Following Opposition allegations of toeing RSS line, UDF government appears to walk back on Vande Mataram directive
Following Opposition allegations of toeing the Sangh Parivar’s line on the recital of Vande Mataram in its entirety, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government
Following Opposition allegations of toeing the Sangh Parivar’s line on the recital of Vande Mataram in its entirety, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government appeared to walk back on the Chief Secretary’s directive to government departments to ensure the recital of the song in its entirety during the Independence Day celebrations. Although the Chief Minister’s office is yet to make an official clarification or withdraw the directive, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan told the media on Sunday (August 9, 2026) that only the first two stanzas will be sung in the State government’s programmes. He said that the Chief Secretary sometimes issues circulars based on Union government directives. Though Mr. Muraleedharan and Education Minister N. Samsudheen of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) said that the Chief Secretary had acted as per Lok Bhavan’s directives, Lok Bhavan has reportedly denied issuing any directions. Even as the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) lashed out at the UDF government for “surrendering completely” to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)’s agenda, the Ministers of the ruling front, including those from the IUML, had found it hard to defend the directive.
The Vande Mataram controversy is the latest in a series of decisions of the UDF government, which have been criticised for following a pro-Sangh Parivar line. As per the directive signed by Chief Secretary Bishwanath Sinha on August 6, 2026, the Union Ministry of Culture had on July 14, 2026 communicated that the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign will be observed this year from August 9-17, 2026. The campaign has been integrated with the third phase of the nationwide commemoration of the 150 years of Vande Mataram. Accordingly, all physical celebrations during this period have to combine the collective singing of Vande Mataram with the hoisting of the Flag. The letter further says that the “instructions of the Government of India for recitation of Vande Mataram will be followed in full.” The Local Self-Government department and the General Education Department are the nodal departments for the programme. However, an earlier circular issued by the General Administration department on August 4, 2026 does not make any mention of Vande Mataram recital as part of the Independence Day celebrations. In February 2026, the Union government had made it mandatory to play or sing the full song at all government events.
On July 30, Parliament passed the Prevention of Insults to Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, making intentional insult to Vande Mataram a punishable offence. Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said that singing the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram was not wrong, but the song in its entirety goes against the secular spirit of the country. The later stanzas of the song refer to the deities of a specific religion. “The Constituent Assembly and leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru were of the opinion that only the first two stanzas need to be sung. This has remained so until the swearing in of the current UDF government when it was sung in full. Despite the widespread criticism against that, the government has now issued such an order. The UDF government has completely surrendered itself to the RSS agenda,” alleged Mr. Vijayan. Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] central committee member T.M. Thomas Isaac said that even though in a federal system States might sometimes be forced to follow Central directives, the State should at least make a mark of protest. CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said that the latest order has further reinforced the public perception that the UDF government has mutated into an ideological proxy for the Hindutva agenda-driven Union government.
The BriefWire