(MENAFN- IANS) Lucknow, Nov 7 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday likened government workers who served people during the pandemic to freedom fighters, claiming that they all took inspiration from the national song 'Vande Mataram' to follow the spirit of 'nation first'.

Joining a programme of collective recitation of 'Vande Mataram' on its 150th anniversary, CM Yogi said that during Covid-19 the leadership inspired workers to devote themselves to national service just as the song inspired the freedom fighters to fight the colonial rulers.

“The spirit of selfless service and dedication shown by government employees during Covid was no less than what we saw in freedom fighters who sang the song a century ago,” said the Chief Minister.

He said during Covid the government and the administration and each employee, including those getting low salaries, were inspired by the resolve to end the pandemic and find a cure to it.

“It was all because of a leadership which was sensitive and responsive towards Bharat, Bhartiyata and its citizens,” he said.

“'Vande Mataram' is an emotive form of the collective eternal expression of India's devotion and strength. Imbued with the spirit of 'Nation First', this song conveys the message of dedicating our collective expression to Mother India and awakens an unwavering sense of reverence for the motherland in every Indian heart,” he said in a post on X.

Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leading the nation in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of 'Vande Mataram', he said,“This day is an extremely important one for all of us... 'Vande Mataram' had become an immortal mantra of India's Independence.”

“During that time, without caring for the numerous tortures and harassments inflicted by the foreign regime, every citizen and revolutionary of India had joined the campaign to awaken India's collective consciousness through morning processions from village to village, city to city, with the song 'Vande Mataram',” he said.

'Vande Mataram', representing a collective expression of the entire India, is such a mantra that ties the whole country in the thread of unity, through which an individual can rise above caste, creed, and religion and think about their nation as well, he said.

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