Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit has sent a legal notice to Amit Malviya over a BJP post alleging Rahul Gandhi insulted the National Anthem. The notice says a technical glitch replayed the anthem and seeks removal of the post and an unconditional apology.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Saturday sent a legal notice to the BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya, two days after the party’s official X account shared a video clip, accusing the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, of ‘insulting’ the National Anthem during the National Convention of the Rachnatmak Congress on August 13.
In the clip, Rahul Gandhi appeared on the dais, shaking hands with several other leaders and walking on the stage while the National Anthem was being played in the background. Sandeep Dikshit’s voice was also heard in the clip as he was trying to address Gandhi.
Sharing the clip, BJP4India, the official account of the party, wrote, “Look, Rahul Gandhi has once again insulted the national anthem. The national anthem that every Indian takes pride in, which embodies the honour, prestige, and glory of the nation, must be respected as the duty of every citizen. But Rahul Gandhi has disgraced it, once again exposing his anti-national attitude.”
Following the incident, Congress’s Amrish Ranjan Pandey and Ambuj Dixit (lawyer-politician) served the notice on behalf of Dikshit to Malviya, as he is the national in-charge of the party’s information and technology cell and also the head of the social media department. The notice asked for the ‘immediate removal of the content and also an unconditional apology’ for the post.
“The purpose of this Notice is not to object to political criticism or to enter into a political debate with you. Political disagreement, criticism and even strong political expression are an ordinary and necessary part of democratic life. What cannot be accepted, however, is the deliberate presentation of an accidental technical error at an event as a deliberate act of disrespect towards the National Anthem, particularly when the complete audio-visual record shows otherwise,” the notice read.
It also clarified that the National Anthem was ‘duly played’ during the event and that the Congress leaders paid their respects to the song. However, due to a technical glitch in the audio box, the song was accidentally played again while the leaders were busy interacting with each other.
“It was only thereafter, due to an inadvertent error in the operation of the audio system, the National Anthem was accidentally played once again. Neither my client nor any other person on the dais had any prior knowledge that the audio track would be replayed inadvertently. The moment the error became apparent, the audio operator immediately stopped the playback. It is entirely possible that, like other audios generally played in such venues, the National Anthem had been put on repeat in the system and was therefore inadvertently played again,” it further added.
Malviya has not immediately responded to the notice.
The legal notice came amid a separate political standoff between the Congress and the BJP over the rendition of India’s National Song, Vande Mataram.
The face-off between the two parties erupted after the Independence Day celebration at the Congress party headquarters in New Delhi. A video from the programme appeared to show that Sonia Gandhi, the party’s Parliamentary Chairperson and the party’s National President, Mallikarjun Kharge, were making hand gestures that seemed to ask workers to stop playing the rendition of the National Song. Moments later, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, was also seen following the same gesture.
It soon snowballed into a major friction, with the BJP taking jibes against the Gandhis and Kharge. Amit Malviya added more fuel to the fire as he said that Sonia Gandhi became ‘agitated’ after hearing the full version of Vande Mataram.
“For the first time, the entire ‘Vande Mataram’ was sung at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day. After the initial stanzas of Vande Mataram were sung, Sonia Gandhi became agitated and asked for the rendition to be stopped rather than played in full. Rahul Gandhi too appeared to signal that it should end,” he wrote on X.
“They were told to let it continue. The message was clear: the complete National Song is now to be respected under the new legal framework, and intentional obstruction or disturbance can invite serious consequences,” he further added.
The political battle over the rendition of Vande Mataram has intensified over the last few months, with a key point of contention being whether the song’s complete version should be performed at official and public events.