TMC slams BJP MP for ‘insult’ to Tagore, Bengalis over national anthem
The Statesman | 8 November 2025
The Trinamul Congress on Friday launched a blistering attack on the BJP after Karnataka MP Vishweshwara Kageri claimed that India’s National Anthem Jana Gana Mana was composed to please the British.
Calling it a “planned insult” to Rabindranath Tagore, the ruling party in West Bengal demanded an apology from the MP and his resignation from Parliament. At a Press conference at the Trinamul Bhavan, state ministers Bratya Basu and Dr Shashi Panja denounced Kageri’s remarks, accusing the BJP of deliberately spreading historical falsehoods to demean Bengal’s cultural icons. “This is not just ignorance—it is an attempt to distort history and insult Gurudev,” said Bratya Basu, who is also the state’s education minister. Kageri, a former Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, made the controversial statement at an event marking the 150 anniversary of Vande Mataram in Hunnavara, Karnataka.
The BJP MP reportedly said that Jana Gana Mana was written to welcome a British official and that Vande Mataram should have been chosen as India’s national anthem instead. Basu countered the claim with historical facts, explaining that Tagore composed Jana Gana Mana in December 1911 and it was first sung at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, long before the anthem was adopted as the national song in 1950. “King George V’s visit to India had no connection whatsoever with the composition of Jana Gana Mana. The BJP is trying to feed us lies,” Basu asserted. Drawing an analogy, Basu added, “During Durga Puja, many songs written by our chief minister are released. Suppose the Union home minister visits Kolkata at that time—does that mean she wrote those songs to welcome him? This argument is absurd.”
Echoing Mr Basu, minister of women and child development Shashi Panja said the BJP must apologise not only to Bengalis but to the nation. “To insult Rabindranath Tagore is to insult Bengal and India. Will the Bengal BJP leaders have the courage to apologise for this?” she asked. Panja also demanded that Kageri step down immediately, saying: “Someone who cannot respect India’s national anthem and its creator has no moral right to remain a lawmaker.” Mr Basu accused the BJP of attempting to create a false divide between two legendary figures of Bengal—Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore.
“This is a part of the BJP’s larger design to appropriate one icon and belittle another. But Bengalis will never tolerate such an insult,” he said. He pointed out that Tagore himself had sung Vande Mataram on several occasions and deeply admired Bankim Chandra. “Both were visionaries who respected each other immensely,” Basu noted.
The Trinamul leaders also highlighted that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had already formed a committee to celebrate 150 years of Vande Mataram and had restored Bankim’s ancestral house into Bankim Bhavan. “Bengal honours all its icons equally,” Mr Basu said. “The BJP should learn its history before trying to rewrite it.”