While saying that he was opposed to the compulsory singing of Vande Mataram, the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) chief Prakash Ambedkar said on Monday that his party supported the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on the matter.

“AIMIM is not opposed to [singing of the] national anthem, only the national song. We too fully support them on this issue. Why do we need to make singing of Vande Mataram when we have a national anthem?” Mr. Ambedkar asked.

Mr. Ambedkar, who recently forged an alliance with the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM for next year’s general and State elections was speaking in Parbhani district in Marathwada.

“It is absurd to brand anyone who does not sing Vande Mataram as ‘anti-Indian’,” he said.

Mr. Owaisi had earlier said that the compulsory singing of Vande Mataram was “unconstitutional” and was merely a ploy of the ruling Narendra Modi government to promote Hindutva. The parties recently forged an alliance with an eye to consolidating the Dalit-Muslim-OBC votes in the State.

Mr. Ambedkar hit out at the four major political parties in the State, remarking that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena coalition as well as the opposition Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) only played divisive caste politics.

“All four parties have an entrenched upper-caste mentality about them,” he said, adding that the BBM-AIMIM alliance would give tickets to the humblest members from the backward communities in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.