NEW DELHI: The controversy over Vande Mataram refuses to die down. On Monday both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party continued to make statements and counter-statements.

While the Congress continued to maintain that "centenary" was a mistake in that September 7 was not the centenary of adoption of Vande Mataram as a national song, the BJP charged the Congress with trying "to cover up" the absence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the celebrations of the song.

The BJP distributed copies of the May 2, 2006 gazette notification giving details of the approval by a national committee to a plan to observe five events: the 150th anniversary of the First War of Independence of 1857; the 60th anniversary of India's Independence; the centenary of adoption of Vande Mataram as the national song; the 75th anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh; and his birth centenary.

Party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad admitted — this was obvious from the notification — that not only Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the head of the committee but all former Prime Ministers, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were also its members, as were Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani, BJP president Rajnath Singh and RSS leader and BJP vice-president Bal Apte. All Chief Ministers, Governors and leaders of all major political parties, including Ms. Gandhi and CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat were its members.

But Mr. Prasad insisted that there was no mistake about the September 7 date, although the notification states clearly that the event was "the centenary celebration of the adoption of Vande Mataram as the National Song," not its first singing at a Congress session.

Mr. Prasad said the centenary of the first singing of Vande Mataram at a Congress session (in Varanasi) did indeed take place on September 7, 2005 while disagreeing with historian Sumit Sarkar, who said September 7 was not an important date in the history of the national song.

"Professor Sarkar is a Leftist," Mr. Prasad said, dismissing the facts presented by him. As for the Congress, the BJP spokesman said "it was trying to find excuses for the absence of Sonia Gandhi [at the All-India Congress Committee function for the singing of Vande Mataram] instead of admitting that her absence was a mistake."

The Congress said the `Vande Mataram' controversy should be treated as closed.

It said September 7 had no historical significance. Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the Congress already clarified that a mistake had occurred.

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