How Congress-ruled Kerala is singing conflicting tunes on 'Vande Mataram'

The controversy erupted after the state chief secretary issued a circular that 'Vande Mataram' is to be sung in full at government events through the Independence Day celebrationsEven as India prepares to witness a grand rendition of Vande Mataram at the Independence Day event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Delhi’s Red Fort, the Congress-led coalition government in Kerala is giving conflicting signals on the National Song.Two key ministers of the V.D. Satheesan-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government, K. Muraleedharan (health) and P.K. Kunhalikutty (industries), have declared that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at state government events.Their position contradicts a circular issued by Kerala chief secretary Bishwanath Sinha that Vande Mataram is to be sung in full at government events through the Har Ghar Tiranga week (August 9 to 17), held every year in the run-up to Independence Day. Sinha issued the circular on August 6 following a directive from the Union government.The dichotomy puts the UDF government in a political hotspot. Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has cited the chief secretary’s circular to accuse the dispensation of surrendering to agendas of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Kerala has been following the norm of singing the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at functions attended by the state governor or Union ministers. The swearing-in ceremony of the UDF government this year and the governor’s address to the legislative assembly had stuck to the tradition.Vijayan’s criticism and objections to the circular raised by UDF ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) prompted the Satheesan government to clarify that only two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung in the state.Vande Mataram was penned by Bengali novelist-poet Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in the 1870s as an ode to the country personified as the mother goddess. He included the work in his novel Anandamath (1882).The poem became a rallying cry during the Independence movement. However, some portions of it invited objections from Muslims over ‘Hindu imagery’ that they felt uncomfortable with. Eventually, the first two of the total six stanzas were recognised as the National Song. It is this that the BJP has long contested and now demands to be undone.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, president of the BJP in Kerala, challenged both the UDF and the Left Front’s stance on Vande Mataram, saying that the choice of not singing the National Song in full did not exist. He asked if such questions would ever be raised about the National Anthem (Jana Gana Mana).Stirring the political pot, education minister and IUML leader N. Shamsudheen alleged that the chief secretary had issued the Vande Mataram order following instructions from the governor—a charge refuted by Raj Bhavan.Before this, another controversy erupted when a question about Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar's role in the Independence movement was included in the ‘Freedom Quiz’ organised for lower primary school students in Kasargod district. The question apparently read: “Which freedom fighter got the most punishments from the British?” The answer key allegedly indicated Savarkar was the right choice.The general education department suspended a primary school teacher from Pallathadka in Kasargod who had been entrusted with preparing the questions for the quiz.At a broader level, the Satheesan government’s move to proceed with implementation of the Centre’s PM-SHRI school upgrade scheme has invited criticism from both the Opposition and IUML. The government has assured that it will not give up curriculum autonomy or the exclusive right to select schools for PM-SHRI while assimilating the scheme.The Opposition is unimpressed and sees the string of decisions as “total surrender” to the RSS. “The controversial decisions taken by the UDF government aren’t isolated policy deviations but an attempt to yield to RSS agendas by surrendering the state’s secular credentials. The government issuing a circular for reciting the entire text of the National Song is total surrender to the RSS agenda,” Vijayan has said.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsPublished By: Shyam BalasubramanianPublished On: Aug 11, 2026 20:23 IST