Modi using Vande Mataram for political interest says Mayawati

Lucknow, Sep 11: BSP chief Mayawati accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using Vande Mataram to serve the BJP's political interest, hours after he said that those who keep the country clean have the first right to chant the national song.

"First BJP used vande matram for making electoral gains and now there is an attempt to change it into a political slogan ...this is unfortunate and a matter of concern for the nation," Mayawati said in a statement here. She was reacting to the prime minister's remarks made at a convention in Delhi today to mark the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's address at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago.

At the youth convention, Modi said, "the sanitation and cleaning workers have the first right to chant Vande Mataram." Mayawati demanded immediate stop to the use of the national song to serve "political" interest.

"There is a vast difference in what the BJP and its leaders say and do and therefore they do not have any right to preach the countrymen," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said. She said the youth need employment "which this government has not been able to make available despite several assurances."

PTI