Sanjay Raut dares Modi and Shah to sing full Vande Mataram without a teleprompter

During a Sunday press conference, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut taunted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, proposing that they sing the full six-stanza Vande Mataram at August Kranti Maidan without using a teleprompter. He extended the challenge to other leaders such as Jay Shah and Jitan Ram Manjhi, framing it as a test of patriotism. Raut then shifted to the government’s economic record, asserting that under Modi’s twelve-year tenure only death, accidents and suicides have become cheaper, while pointing to sugarcane being diverted to ethanol production.

He called for officials to meet ordinary citizens in their homes rather than confining outreach to university campuses. The episode occurs against a backdrop of a partisan clash: the BJP has condemned the Congress Working Committee’s August 19 resolution to restrict Vande Mataram to its first two verses and launched a campaign to promote the song’s full version, while Congress leaders accuse the ruling party of politicising the anthem. Various BJP ministers, including Kiren Rijiju, Ramdas Athawale and Giriraj Singh, reiterated the song’s historic significance.