Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is the only Prime Minister to have sung the song “Vande Mataram” in its entirety at a government function.
Shah was speaking in Navi Mumbai at the CIDCO Exhibition Centre, where he inaugurated the Hindi Diwas celebrations and the 6th All India Rajbhasha Conference. He described the day as auspicious as Hindi Diwas coincided with Vinayaka Chaturthi, expressing hope that Lord Ganesha would help remove obstacles to the growth of Indian languages.
Recalling history, Shah said Bal Gangadhar Tilak began public celebrations such as Ganesh Utsav and Chhatrapati Shivaji Jayanti in Maharashtra in 1893, believing cultural nationalism could build awareness of the nation’s creativity, culture and history.
He said “Vande Mataram”, written as an effort by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay during the period of colonial rule, helped awaken national भावना and strengthened the foundation for cultural nationalism and the desire for freedom. Shah added that after Independence, the song faced years of struggle for full acceptance, and claimed Modi later sang it again with full pride at an official event.
Shah said the occasion—linked to the 150th year of “Vande Mataram” and held on the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji—would help take both forward in the coming days.
