Singing of 'Vande Mataram' to be made mandatory in all Uttar Pradesh educational institutions

Amid a political row over 'Vande Mataram' song, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that the national song will be made compulsory in every school and educational institution in the state.

The CM said that the initiative would generate feelings of reverence and pride among citizens towards the nation.

"There should be a sense of respect for the national song Vande Mataram. We will make its singing compulsory in every school and educational institution of Uttar Pradesh," he said.

A political war between the BJP and the Congress started after Prime Minister Modi recently said that important stanzas of "Vande Mataram" were dropped in 1937, which sowed the seeds of the partition, and asserted that such a "divisive mindset" is still a challenge for the country.

The Congress countering the attack on Sunday claimed that the PM has "insulted" the Congress Working Committee of 1937, which issued a statement on the song, as also Rabindranath Tagore, and said he should fight his political battles on current issues of daily concern.

In a post on X, Ramesh said, "The Congress Working Committee met in Kolkata October 26-November 1 1937. Those present included Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sarojini Naidu, J.B. Kripalani, Bhulabhai Desai, Jamnalal Bajaj, Narendra Deva, and others."

(With PTI inputs)