Allies National Conference (NC) and Congress on Wednesday came head-to-head over the decision of the Omar Abdullah-led government in Jammu and Kashmir to play the full version of the national song at the opening of the state’s first film festival on Monday.Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal reminded the NC that Congress Working Committee had taken a decision to play two stanzas of the song and, as an ally, the NC should support that line.“The full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India.“For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Narendra Dev, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and J.B. Kripalani — shaped in no small part by the counsel of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore — remains paramount,” Venugopal said, posting on social media visuals of all NC leaders standing as the full Vande Mataram played in the backdrop.Venugopal said, “With respect and humility, we would like our allies to honour the wisdom and judgment of our freedom fighters, and stand with us in singing only the version of this beautiful and historic song that they adopted. That version was chosen deliberately, to keep the song from being communalised — a threat as real today as it was then.”As the Congress leader argued that upholding the stand taken by the leading lights of the freedom movement was how the country upheld its secular, inclusive character, NC leaders said the Congress could not impose its position on others.The full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India.For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya… pic.twitter.com/VngmVUmevz— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) September 8, 2026