(Tribune)
Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Kishore Upadhyay today warned that he would not sing Vande Mataram if the BJP continued pursuing its agenda of forcible patriotism.Addressing a press conference here today, Uttarakhand Congress president Kishore Upadhyay said the way BJP was resorting to divisive politics was a matter of big concern. Citing an example, Upadhyay said one of the ministers in the newly elected BJP government in Uttarakhand had already started talking about Vande Mataram, yet again revealing their policy of forcible patrotism.
He reminded that Congress workers in course of their meetings sang Vande Mataram regularly since the pre-Independence days but the BJP that came to existence in the 1980s now thought that they were sole crusaders of patriotism.“Patriotism is not a fiefdom of the BJP. How can they go for forcible patriotism? If they continue with such agenda, I won’t sing Vande Mataram come what may,” Kishore Upadhyay asserted.
