BJP

Pune Municipal Corporation

Vande Mataram

Pramod Bhangire

Supreme Court

Rajasthan

In a proposal approved in the(PMC) general body meeting on Friday, the civic body has officially made it compulsory to sing the national song,, at all schools run by it.The proposal in this regard had been tabled by Bharatiya Janata Party corporator, after which all opposition parties had spoken out against the move, citing that the song gives preference to a particular religion and its beliefs. Though it can be played at PMC schools, singing it shouldn’t be made compulsory, they had demanded.In this vein, Congress leader Arvind Shinde said, “There arerulings that state such a thing should not be made compulsory. But, despite this, BJP leaders want such rules approved. This is just another attempt to polarise the people and woo its own vote bank. So, we have opposed this move.”Thanks to the dissecting views on the matter, the latest general body meeting also witnessed a ruckus, with plenty of sloganeering from both sides, even as the proposal was approved with majority.Just weeks ago, the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) inhad, in a similar move, told all its employees to sing the national anthem every day before the start of duty, and the national song just before the end of duty hours. The mayor had also said anyone opposed to this “can go to Pakistan”.