India, Sept. 12 -- State home minister Priyank Kharge on Friday defended the state's decision to restrict Vande Mataram to two stanzas at most state government functions.

He said the state government had no reason to revise its decision merely because the BJP had objected to it. He said the Congress was following an approach established by senior national leaders and rejected the suggestion that the party needed to prove its patriotism. "We had gone by what eight to 10 senior leaders like Rabindranath Tagore, Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Gandhiji, Nehru decided and told us to follow. Are these people (BJP) bigger than them?" he said.

The order provides for the first two stanzas to be sung at state government events. It...