SHIRDI: Amid controversy over the issue, Maharashtra Public Works Minister and BJP leader Chandrakant Patil today said those who want to live in the country must say `Vande Mataram' and `Bharat Maata Ki Jai'.
Patil was speaking to reporters after visiting the famous Saibaba temple here.
"Vande Mataram means saluting the soil of this country. I don't know what problem they have saying Vande Mataram," he said.
"If you want to live in this country, you must say Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai," he said.
"Everybody living in this country has the right to worship as per his religion. But one must be loyal to the country and its soil too. Vande Mataram doesn't mean hailing (particular) god. Just as one also reveres one's parents besides Allah, one can also revere the motherland," Patil said.
Following the Madras High Court ruling making singing of Vande Mataram compulsory in schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu, BJP MLA Raj Purohit demanded its implementation in Maharashtra.
Waris Pathan, MLA of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) from Mumbai, and the Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra unit president and MLA Abu Asim Azmi opposed the demand.