Kerala swearing-in: Rendition of Vande Mataram sparks questions
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Thiruvananthapuram: The swearing-in ceremony of the new V. D. Satheesan government in Kerala on Monday stood out for its complete adherence to the Centre’s directive on Vande Mataram. All six stanzas of the national song were rendered during the official function. The move has triggered political discussion, with many viewing it as a sign of the Congress party increasingly yielding space to the BJP-led Union government’s cultural and nationalist agenda.
During the swearing-in ceremony, all six stanzas of the national song were recited before the National Anthem, in line with a January 28, 2026, directive issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to mark the song’s 150th anniversary. The order made it compulsory for government functions and school assemblies to perform the complete version of Vande Mataram before Jana Gana Mana.
The Kerala event drew political attention because the same protocol was reportedly not followed during the recent swearing-in ceremony of Suvendu Adhikari in West Bengal, despite the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Congress’s decision to fully implement the directive in Kerala has surprised political observers, particularly because the party had earlier opposed attempts to make the complete rendition of Vande Mataram mandatory. The development has added to perceptions that the Congress is increasingly softening its resistance to the Centre’s nationalist cultural prescriptions.
A similar scene had unfolded earlier in Tamil Nadu during the swearing-in of Vijay, where the full rendition was performed in the presence of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.
Based on The Statesman report.
