The broader theme of the performance will be -- 'Swatantra Ka Mantra - Vande Mataram' and 'Samriddhi Ka Mantra - Viksit Bharat', officials said.
The dominant theme at this year's ceremonial parade at the Kartavya Path, and other associated celebrations, has been the sesquicentenary of the national song, 'Vande Mataram.'
The upcoming Republic Day Parade will center around the sesquicentenary of 'Vande Mataram,' featuring themed decorations, performances, and special guests.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has criticized the central government's directive mandating the singing of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram at official functions, alleging it violates religious freedom.
The Union Home Ministry has directed that Vande Mataram be sung before the National Anthem in official events, establishing new protocols for the National Song's performance and promoting its wider adoption.
The Indian Navy has been recognized as the best marching contingent among the armed forces at the Republic Day Parade. Maharashtra won for states/UTs, and the Culture Ministry for ministries/departments.
A political slugfest broke out between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress on Monday after the latter accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of insulting Bankim Chandra Chatterjee by calling him 'Bankim da', prompting a counter-attack from the saffron party, which accused West Bengal's ruling party of defiling the state's cultural legacy for a decade.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly insulting novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by calling him "Bankim da."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will initiate the debate on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram in Lok Sabha on Monday, which is expected to bring to light several important and previously unknown facets about the national song.
Home Minister Amit Shah criticized the opposition in Rajya Sabha, linking the division of the 'Vande Mataram' song to the partition of India. He accused Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru of dividing the song for appeasement politics.
Banerjee said she had come across media reports claiming that the patriotic slogans were not being permitted in the House.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed BJP leaders to intensify grassroots outreach in West Bengal, setting performance benchmarks for the upcoming state elections. He emphasized party unity and the importance of booth-level workers.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that singing 'Vande Mataram' will be made compulsory in every school and educational institution of the state.
November 7 2025, marked the 150th year of India's revered national song, Vande Mataram.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the BJP following an assault on food vendors at a Bhagavad Gita recital event in Kolkata, asserting that the state would not tolerate intimidation, communal division, or attempts to dictate dietary choices. She vowed stringent action against those responsible and accused the BJP of trying to import a culture of communal division and weaponize religious texts for political mobilization.
In a measured but scathing attack, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of committing a 'big sin' by creating a controversy over Vande Mataram and claimed that the government pushed for a debate on the national song as the West Bengal assembly polls were approaching.
Madhya Pradesh Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Inder Singh Parmar has sparked controversy by saying that social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a 'British agent' who started a 'vicious cycle of religious conversion', prompting the Trinamool Congress to call the remarks an insult to Bengal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Congress party, alleging that the dropping of important stanzas from the national song 'Vande Mataram' in 1937 sowed the seeds of partition. He made these remarks during the inauguration of the year-long commemoration of 'Vande Mataram'.
Nehru had requested Tagore to compose a national anthem. But the poet died soon after and with that died the idea of a new song from Tagore that could be India's national anthem. It is remarkable that Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose agreed on Bharoto Bhaagyo Bidhaataa as India's national anthem.
Jyotindranath Mukherjee, popularly known as Bagha Jatin, attained martyrdom while fighting the British in Balasore district on September 9, 1915. It is unfortunate that the supreme sacrifice made by Bagha Jatin and his associates is little known outside Bengal and Odisha.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticizes Delhi Police for referring to Bengali as 'Bangladeshi national language,' sparking political controversy.
'When India opened its doors to the world, moving away from an agrarian to a market economy, everything, whether life or love, was commodified.'
Rajbaris are a link to Bengal's rich past, of grand mansions, classical fine dining, and allow guests to be pretend zamindars for those few hours or days that they stay.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's 1882 classic, Anandamath (Abbey of Bliss) offers all the inspiration you need.
'India's pluralist character, vibrant democracy, assertive intelligentsia and all attendant principles/institutions are the best assurance to allay the misgivings of the minorities.'
Lalgola Royal Estate in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, where Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay conceived his epic creation Ananda Math, is all set to get a facelift albeit via the stars and stripes.
'My children -- Saif, Saba and Soha -- have been located in Mumbai for a while now.' 'In our case, it's the house more than me that keeps the family close.' 'All three of my children love Pataudi; they come to Delhi and head straight there.'
A Nation Once Again, written in 1841 by Irish patriot Thomas Davis as a call for independence from British rule, stood first in the BBC poll.
'Amit Shah and his fellow travellers need to realise that India was divided because of competitive communalism of forces like Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League, prodded, aided and abetted by the colonial power,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Vande Mataram of Sanskrit origin, but written in Bengali, Tamil Nadu AG told the court.
Patnaik, 89, passed away at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences in the temple city
Justice M V Muralidharan said that schools must be made to follow it at least once a week either on Monday or Friday.
When the BJP forms government in Bengal, the chief minister will be a son of the soil, he said at the rally amid loud cheers from his supporters.
While lashing out at Mamata Banerjee, the prime minister said he was going for a rally in Dum Dum later in the day but was not sure if the West Bengal Chief Minister will allow his helicopter to land.
The politicisation of ethnic sentiments in the state has coincided with the ascent of the BJP and increased activities of far right Hindu outfits, which organised rallies and other events on religious occasions such as Ram Navami a festival not very popular in West Bengal- unlike states in north India.
It is learnt that the SNLTR is also working on Bangla classics.
Sukanya Verma presents a playlist of 100 Lata Mangeshkar songs from different decades of Hindi films -- songs that make me sing, smile, sob and sigh.
What Roy is planning is not known. Will he side with the BJP, which he calls 'non-communal'? Or will he float a party? Or revive the Nationalist TMC to further his political career?
'The condition in Bengal is such that if you chant Jai Shri Ram, you would be put behind bars
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