Kerala: ‘Vande Mataram’ Row Sparks Storm On The Very First Working Day Of The New UDF Government

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]All this Kabhi Haan, Kabhi Naa on Iran continues, but first up, closer home, Kerala Assembly's first working day under the new UDF government opened with political friction. Ahead of the governor's Governor Rajendra Arlekar's policy address, the police band played only the opening portion of Vande Mataram following Kerala's long-standing convention despite the Lok Bhavan reportedly insisting that that the national song be rendered in full. The BJP called it an insult to the national song accusing the Congress of appeasement politics. CPI(M) veteran Pinarayi Vijayan backed the state's stance saying singing the full version was part of, quote, RSS agenda and Kerala had no obligation to follow it.

[00:00:41]While the governor avoided raising the issue during his speech, the controversy has already exposed fault lines between the new Congress-led government and Lok Bhavan setting the stage for a politically tense assembly term ahead.

[00:01:01]>> What we had insisted that there has to be whenever governor is present, it is the protocol, you are right, that governor whenever governor is present, it has to be sung fully. It was not It They did not sing it. It was played only.

[00:01:19]But they could have done it. Let us see they will rectify it.

[00:01:26]I had spoken to the speaker also.

[00:02:13]>> Pallavi Ghosh now joins us with more details on this story. Neetu Raghu Kumar also with us. Neetu, the governor did he Pallavi is with us right now we'll go to our first Pallavi. This Vande Mataram issue seems to now uh becoming a fresh tool where the opposition seems to be saying more the government insists, more we are going to resist.

[00:02:36]>> Two things here Anand. First of all, the Congress has always been caught on the back foot whenever it comes to the Vande Mataram issue. You know, whether it was inside Parliament, whether it was earlier or as well, always a charge against them is that their reluctance to sing the Vande Mataram as a part of the public events that they conducted. This goes on to show that they are very selective, they are anti-national, and you know, they don't understand the value of our national song. And whatever the Vande Mataram has been sung, only a couple of stanzas or lines have been sung, which is not entirely what the way it should go. Well, the Congress's counter to this is that this is an RSS agenda, and that's exactly what you're hearing now from the state government of Kerala where they are saying it's an RSS agenda. And this has been endorsed by Pinarayi Vijayan and after an objection we see coming in from the Kerala governor, that why do you not sing the entire full national song? And that is something which has now been notified by the government. So, this is always going to be not just an issue of Vande Mataram versus you know, the the need for the Congress party to sing it in full, but also it's beginning of possibly not a very good equation between the governor as well as the newly appointed state government.

[00:03:44]>> Yeah, but Pallavi, the other thing is it's the national song. Why do politics around the national song? If it has a geo and if it has come from the president's office and the constitutional post and if it's got to be constitutionally mandated, those who come come out to champion the Samvidhan are disrespecting what is a constitutional order or a constitutional mandate now.

[00:04:07]>> It doesn't belong to any one political party. It's got nothing to do with politics. It's a revolutionary song of India's freedom movement and this is that where it needs to be valued and you know, all of us I mean I can say that as a lot of Bengalis when we were growing up, this was something which was a part of a syllabus and we were actually told to sing the entire song. But somewhere down the line that allegation started coming in for the good 10 years that the UPA was in power and I still remember it has stoked a huge controversy. They had either refused to sing the Vande Mataram on public platforms or on public events or on ceremonies or even if they did, they only sang a couple of lines and that is the objection which is coming in that this is not belonging to any one party. It's not about any one state.

[00:04:50]It's about the country. It's about the nation. It's about our freedom movement song. So why should you not give it that kind of a credit and sing it in total?

[00:04:59]>> Yeah, absolutely. Stay with us Pallavi.

[00:05:01]We've got Shehzad Poonawalla with us on the phone line. Shehzad Poonawalla God's own country where the deity or the goddess is revered revered, all her forms exist and manifest in different temples across the length and breadth of Kerala and there they have a problem singing Vande Mataram.

[00:05:17]>> Actually, because the Chief Minister now comes from Muslim League Anand, so it has now become a country where Sharia law is there, not Samvidhanic law. So now under pressure of Muslim League, Congress party, even though the official protocol is full Vande Mataram has to be played, they have given the instruction to the speaker that no way you can play the full Vande Mataram and then Mr. Vijayan who has to also compete because he's a fanboy of Hamas and these people are fanboys of Jamaat. So he has come out in support of it. This is an insult to Vande Mataram. It is the same ecosystem Jamat ecosystem Jamiyat Ulama-e-Hind ecosystem. They are the ones who will platform Hamas and they will say bad things about Bharat Mata and Vande Mataram. So this is their mindset. This is the agenda of Muslim League. Please refer to Satish as Muslim League Chief Minister.

[00:06:04]>> Well, that is your reference political reference. I'll refer to him as the Kerala Chief Minister. My The other question is it's a constitutional mandate as protocol for a constitutional head that is central government representative or the president's office representative in the in in in terms of the governor. Now those are official functions. This is defying Samvidhan and tenets of constitutional protocol now.

[00:06:29]You can keep your politics. You don't sing Vande Mataram, that's your choice.

[00:06:33]But to try and ensure that the governor is also disrespected is trying to take politics too far, isn't it?

[00:06:40]>> Actually Anand, they have not adopted that vote bank Niti is above Rashtra Niti. So they stand with the Tukde Tukde elements. They support the Naxalites.

[00:06:49]They support all the terrorists and they also say that if it's a Samvidhanic protocol, we will not follow and we will put the tenets of Islamic Republic above everything above everything else. So they object to Vande Mataram being sung.

[00:07:01]They object to Tiranga. They object to Bharat Mata. You remember left government was there, they objected to Bharat Mata's image on the platform. So they will object to all of this and they will always back for say Islamic Republic and therefore I would say that this is vote bank Niti above Rashtra Niti. It is an insult to Vande Mataram and we are in 150th year of Vande Mataram.

[00:07:20]>> Mhm.

[00:07:20]>> And Congress party and left parties, they are insulting great icon not just of Bengal but of entire Bharatvarsh. So it shows their mindset. They are sowing the seeds of separatism. We also saw Mr. Joseph CM Joseph of Tamil Nadu. Even he has a problem with Vande Mataram and they have to compete in wood bank politics. So even the Muslim League Chief Minister >> I would just say that see Joseph Vijay doesn't have a problem with one day matter and it is about trying to play the Tamil state song first ahead of the national song and the national anthem.

[00:07:50]So that's where that that's another issue all together and interestingly even the Tamil state song plays a truncated version that is being peddled by the DMK. So that also is another issue. So everybody has forgotten the you know crux of the whole matter that you sing the song in in trying to celebrate your own state identity and of course your country.

[00:08:11]That's where it is. Shahzad Poonawalla please stay with us on the phone line.

[00:08:14]We've got Rahul Easwar also. Rahul Easwar, why unnecessarily deliberately play politics where it can be avoided?

[00:08:23]>> I don't know as you know I'm a Hindu right wing activist but in this issue we have to find a balance and it's a curious case of irony that in the West Bengal Chief Minister's wearing function one day matter was not at all sung and even in the Assam one many media reported that one day matter not even two stanza were sung. So see you know it's a very it's a curious issue and a sensitive issue. See the first two stanza were the original one then later Bankim Chandra Chatterjee added four more stanzas then later it was sung in the Congress assembly by Rabindranath Tagore. None less than Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore himself later because of the God references they began to feel that our Christian and Muslim brothers will be uncomfortable with it.

[00:09:01]That's that's when it was Rabindranath Tagore himself who took the decision when Subhas Chandra Bose and Nehruji consulted him. So it's a very very tricky issue that we need to tell and I believe in singing one day matter but we have to convince people and convey and take them along.

[00:09:17]>> But if it is officially mandated in a governor's function it is not about personal belief it is about official protocol Rahul Easwar. So if at one place if at one place if at one place it was not if it if it if it was not played then it was also highlighted and that correction has been made thereafter. So what I'm trying to say here here they knew and they did not topic of controversy.

[00:09:44]Isn't it the isn't it the isn't it the state government that is deliberately made it into a controversy? They could have just played the whole song when the governor is present and decided not to play it when they are there. When the governor is not there, they could have made that call. That's not been done.

[00:09:56]So, who's politicized and who's not is something that we have to we have to understand. And why is it a tricky issue when when when Hindus can respect when Christian sentiments are put out or Muslim sentiments are put out at that time. So, why can't it be counter request? And you are looking at your country as your motherland as your Janani. And if you celebrate that, there is no there is no there is no putting that above. And even in even in both Christianity and in Islam, it is very clearly said you have to put your country first. If it comes to choosing, you have to put your country first. So, your country first. So, I'm I'm I'm just saying who whoever is appeasing So, in the case of appeasing 30%, you'll forget the remaining 70% and let let's entire it's And this is about the country. The country is the same for all. So, respect the country.

[00:10:42]Yes, we'll we'll take this forward.

[00:10:45]We'll take this forward. Rahul Ishwar, I have to move on for the moment, but Tehseen Poonawalla, Rahul Ishwar, thank you very much.