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COVER STORY DECEMBER 19, 2025 | The Indian Eye 4

WINTER SESSION OF PARLIAMENT

DEFINING

MOMENTS

The Winter Session of Parliament became a battleground where culture, democracy and public health collided,

as the ruling BJP and the opposition clashed sharply over Vande Mataram, elections and pollution

OUR BUREAU

New Delhi
he Winter Session of Parlia-
ment, which began on Decem-
Tber 1 and runs till December
19, has unfolded as one of the most
acrimonious in recent memory. In-
stead of legislative consensus or pol-
icy breakthroughs, the session has
been dominated by sharp ideologi-
cal clashes, procedural disruptions
and walkouts. At its heart lie three
issues that reveal the deeper anx-
ieties of Indian politics today: the
meaning of nationalism through
Vande Mataram, the integrity of elec-
tions, and the crisis of air pollution.
Taken together, these debates
reflect not isolated disagreements
but a broader struggle over narrative
control, institutional trust and gover-
nance priorities as India heads into
an election-heavy political cycle.
History as political weapon
he nearly 12-hour debate in the
Lok Sabha on the 150th anni-
Tversary of Vande Mataram set Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in Lok Sabha during the winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Monday. (Sansad TV/ANI Video Grab)
the tone for the session. What could
have been a moment of collective under pressure from the Muslim alizing the national song, especially political opportunism. She reminded
reflection on a shared symbol of the League, fragmenting it in the name during the Emergency. the House that Vande Mataram is
freedom struggle instead turned into of appeasement. For the BJP, the debate served sung at every Congress session and
a fierce ideological contest. By citing Jawaharlal Nehru’s a strategic purpose. It reinforced questioned why the BJP sought ex-
Prime Minister Narendra Modi 1937 correspondence with Subhas cultural nationalism, questioned the clusive ownership of a song rooted
opened the debate by framing Vande Chandra Bose and linking it to later Congress’s moral authority over the in the collective freedom movement.
Mataram as the spiritual and cultural decisions, Modi constructed a his- freedom struggle, and signaled ideo- Other opposition leaders, including
force that energized India’s freedom torical narrative in which Congress’s logical clarity to its core base. It also Akhilesh Yadav and Jairam Ramesh,
movement. He described it as a man- handling of Vande Mataram symbol- carried electoral overtones, partic- warned against turning a unifying
tra embodying sacrifice, resilience ized a larger moral failure that, in his ularly with West Bengal in mind — symbol into a partisan tool.
and national unity. But the speech telling, culminated in the partition of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s home The result was a debate less
quickly moved beyond celebration India. Union Home Minister Amit state and a key political battleground. about history and more about legiti-
into accusation. Modi alleged that Shah and Defense Minister Rajnath The opposition pushed back macy — who gets to define national-
the Congress, particularly during the Singh reinforced this line, accusing strongly. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ac- ism, and who speaks for India’s past.
1930s, had compromised the song Congress governments of margin- cused Modi of selective history and Continued on next page... >>

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