Commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram on Friday was marked by a political slugfest with Prime Minister Narendra Modi linking the Congress’s 1937 move of dropping its last stanzas with India’s Partition and the Opposition party hitting back at Modi.

The Prime Minister said, “The spirit of Vande Mataram illuminated the nation during the freedom struggle. But in 1937, significant verses of Vande Mataram — its very soul — were removed. The song was torn apart. This division sowed the seeds of Partition.”

“Today’s generation must understand this history because the same divisive mindset continues to pose a challenge to the nation even today,” he said, while reciting the full poem, including stanzas that had references to Goddess Durga, and were dropped in 1937.

The PM was r

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