New Delhi, August 19, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Senior Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury on Wednesday defended former party president Sonia Gandhi amid the controversy surrounding the alleged disruption of the Vande Mataram recitation at the Congress headquarters, questioning whether anyone had actually heard Gandhi ask for the national song to be stopped.
Speaking to IANS, Chowdhury dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and said attention should instead remain focused on issues affecting students and young people, including the NEET paper leak.
“This is the politics of allegations. Such remarks are being made to divert from the real issues. What about real issues, students’ future, how NEET paper leak issues? No BJP leader or PM addresses those issues,” she said.
Chowdhury specifically challenged the claim that Sonia Gandhi had sought to stop the recitation, saying there was no basis for drawing such a conclusion merely from gestures.
“What Sonia Gandhi said, anybody heard? I am asking, did anybody hear? No. What she said, we know, just making allegations based on signs,” she said.
The Congress leader accused the BJP of using the controversy to shift public attention away from issues on which the government should be questioned. She also alleged that the ruling party was attempting to portray the Opposition as being against the country while presenting itself as the stronger alternative.
“They are trying to hide their own failures and trying to show people that the Opposition is bad and they are good,” she said.
Chowdhury said she saw little value in engaging with what she described as baseless allegations, adding that the controversy should not overshadow concerns surrounding students and the country’s youth.
“There is no befitting reply to their baseless allegations. It’s a waste even to involve with them,” she said.
Her remarks came against the backdrop of allegations concerning Sonia Gandhi’s conduct during the rendition of Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters. Chowdhury maintained that interpreting a person’s gestures was insufficient to establish that she had sought to interrupt or stop the national song.
She reiterated that political discourse should focus on substantive public issues rather than allegations based on interpretations of gestures when what was actually said had not been established.
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