The new mayor of Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut on Wednesday overturned an order by the erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party administration in the city, making the singing of Vande Mataram compulsory before municipal corporation meetings, News18 reported.
The Bahujan Samaj Party’s Sunita Verma, who won Meerut’s mayoral election, said the national anthem would replace Vande Mataram before municipal corporation meetings. She said the decision was in consonance with the constitution of the municipal board.
However, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Meerut unit chief Karunesh Nandan Garg opposed the decision. “We will protest against this decision in and outside the municipal corporation,” he said. “If the mayor tries to dictate terms then our municipal councillor will go on the roads and sing Vande Mataram in protest.”
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