Opposing Vande unpatriotic: Sena

While every Sena shakha will sing the national song, Raj’s party has no such plans.

Every shakha of the Shiv Sena in the country will resonate with the sounds of Vande Mataram at 11am on Thursday to mark its centennial celebrations, said Sanjay Raut, Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP.

The party has organised several renditions of the song, group meetings and rallies in the state on September 7. Even units from Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, Jammu, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and south India will sing its patriotic verses.

Raut refutes allegations that his party was trying to “extract political mileage” out of the row. “Those who oppose singing it are betraying the nation,” he said. “We planned mass recital of the song long before the state’s directive to schools to sing the song. This is a public awareness campaign to commemorate its birth.”

Mayor Datta Dalvi plans to sing the song along with 2,000 school children at the mayor’s bungalow. Congress has also organised similar programmes at Tilak Bhavan.

“We have also organised functions in several places, including the Muslim-dominated Bhiwandi,” says BJP’s MLA Vinod Tawde. BJP’s students wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, will take the lead at various colleges and universities.

Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray’s party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, has made no plans to celebrate the occasion.

Maharashtra Vikas Manch, an umbrella outfit that represents 12 Muslim organisations,  has steadfastly maintained it will not sing the song.