Kumaraswamy Sonia Gandhi Indian Sentiment Vande Mataram Row

For the second day in a row, Union minister H D Kumaraswamy has referred to the Italian origin of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and accused her of being against “Indian sentiment”

On Monday, Kumaraswamy triggered a row while speaking to reporters at Holenarsipura in Karnataka’s Hassan district. Commenting on the controversy over Sonia Gandhi allegedly objecting to singing the full version of Vande Mataram during the Congress’s Independence Day event, the Janata Dal (Secular) leader said that everyone should respect the song.

“What can you expect from Sonia Gandhi? Is she from our country? She got married and came here. But the blood flowing in her is more or less Italian,” Kumaraswamy said.

A day later, the Union minister doubled down on his remarks. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru ahead of a rally scheduled in the city, he maintained that she is not from India. “She married an Indian. She is basically from Italy. Her birthplace is Italy. That is why she is always opposing the Indian sentiment,” he said.

While BJP and its allies have accused Sonia Gandhi and the Congress of disrespecting the national song by trying to stop its full, the Congress said she was trying to arrange a chair for Kharge.

In response to the comments, Congress MLA A S Ponnanna told The Indian Express that such personal and disparaging remarks are unbecoming of a Union Minister with a long public career. “People do not respect such disrespectful language towards women. This reflects his patriarchal mindset and reveals how he views women in general,” he said.

“Chanting Vande Mataram, thousands of people went to the gallows, faced bullets, endured lathi charges, and spent many years in jail. But in its vote-bank greed, the Congress forgot Vande Mataram,” he said.

BJP president Nitin Nabin said the happenings at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day were proof that even eight decades after Independence, the Congress had “no respect” for Vande Mataram.