New Delhi, Dec. 9 -- Congress president and the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha, saying that the ideological predecessors of the BJP were working for the Britishers when his party leaders were being jailed during the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921, while chanting 'Vande Matram'.

Participating in the Vande Mataram debate in Rajya Sabha, Congress chief said that his party did the work of making 'Vande Mataram' a slogan during the freedom struggle.

"Your (BJP) history is that you were always against the freedom struggle and patriotic songs. When Mahatma Gandhi started the non-cooperation movement in 1921, lakhs of freedom fighters from the Congress...