BJP to mark 150 years of 'Vande Matram' at 150 places on Nov 7; PM to attend Delhi event

New Delhi/Gurugram Nov 5 (PTI) 'Vande Matram' will be collectively sung at events planned in 150 places of significance across the country to mark 150 years of the national song, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to attend one such programme at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Delhi on November 7.

Addressing a press conference at party headquarters here, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said the party plans to celebrate the milestone as a festival.

"Several programmes to celebrate the occasion will be organised across the country from November 7 to 26 (Constitution Day). Vande Matram will be sung at 150 places of significance on November 7, which will be followed by a pledge for using indigenous products," Chugh said.

Information about PM attending the event at the IG Stadium was shared by BJP national secretary Om Prakash Dhankar.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the singing of the song Vande Mataram at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Delhi," Dhankar said while interacting with mediapersons at the BJP office in Gurugram.

The places where singing of Vande Matram will be organised on November 7 include Kargil War Memorial, Andaman and Nicobar Cellular Jail, Odisha's Sawaraj Ashram, Shaheed Smarak Park in Agra and Namo Ghat in Varanasi.

"Several other programmes such as poetry writing and recitation and painting will also be organised during the period," Chugh said.

According to Dhankar, the chief ministers of all the states will also participate in similar events in their respective capitals to mark the occasion.

The song will also be sung at sites of the freedom struggle, including the Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the martyrdom site of the Rani of Jhansi.

The party's national general secretary noted that Vande Mataram emerged as a major mantra for India's liberation from the British. The poem was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875 and was famously recited by Rabindranath Tagore in Kolkata in 1896. The ode to the motherland was adopted as the national song in 1950. PTI GJS COR GJS AMJ AMJ