Vande Mataram "I praise to thee, Mother". The "mother goddess" in later verses of the song has been interpreted as the motherland of the people – Bangamata (Mother Bengal) and "Bharat Mata" (Mother India), though the text does not mention this explicitly. It played a vital role in the Indian independence movement, first sung in a political context by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. It became a popular marching song for political activism and Indian freedom movement in 1905. Spiritual Indian nationalist and philosopher Sri Aurobindo referred it as "National Anthem of Bengal". The song and
Johan Vande Lanotte Johan Vande Lanotte Johan Cyrille Corneel Vande Lanotte (born 6 July 1955) is a Belgian politician. He is a member of the SP.A, and became its party president on 15 October 2005. He handed down his leadership positions after the SP.A lost in the 2007 general election. Between 5 December 2011 and October 2014, he was Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Economy, Consumer affairs and North Sea in the Di Rupo I Government. With the formation of a new Centre-Right federal government, which excluded his party, Johan Vande Lanotte returned to local politics in October 2014 in Ostend, where