Days ahead of Independence Day, a directive to sing Vande Mataram "in full" has triggered a major political storm in Kerala, putting the VD Satheeshan-led government under pressure from both the Opposition and its own political allies.
At the centre of the controversy is an August 6 circular issued by the Kerala Chief Secretary Bhishwanath Sinha directing the rendition of Vande Mataram "in full" as part of the Independence Day-related programmes.
The directive has opened an uncomfortable political front for the Congress-led government in a state where both the Congress and the CPI(M) have traditionally opposed the rendition of the complete version of Vande Mataram at official functions.
The CPI(M) has seized on the circular, accusing the government of surrendering to the political agenda of the Sangh Parivar.
Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan led the attack, questioning why a Congress government that claims to uphold secular politics had issued such a direction.
According to the Chief Secretary's communication, the 2026 edition of the Centre's Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, originally launched as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, has been integrated with the third phase of nationwide programmes commemorating 150 years of Vande Mataram.
The integration was approved by the National Implementation Committee chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
But it was the direction to render Vande Mataram "in full" that turned what could have remained an administrative communication into a political controversy.
The state government's initial attempt to distance itself from the controversy by pointing towards Kerala Lok Bhavan also ran into trouble.
The Governor's office denied having exerted any pressure on the state government to issue such a direction, leaving the government facing questions over how the instruction to sing the complete song entered the Chief Secretary's communication.
The controversy is particularly sensitive in Kerala because of the long-standing political debate surrounding the later stanzas of Vande Mataram.
The CPI(M), Congress, Indian Union Muslim League and several other political formations in the state have historically maintained that the later portions contain invocations and imagery associated with Hindu deities and, therefore, should not form part of official renditions in a secular state.
The BJP and its NDA allies have consistently rejected that argument.
Against this political backdrop, the Chief Secretary's letter appeared to mark a departure from the position traditionally associated with the Congress in Kerala.
And the Congress response, once the controversy erupted, was emphatic
Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan made one of the strongest interventions in the row, declaring that only the first two stanzas would be sung even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi "threatens to shoot us."
Devaswom Minister K Muraleedharan also sought to draw a clear line under the controversy, asserting that Kerala government functions would continue to follow the existing practice of rendering only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram.
The government's principal ally, the Indian Union Muslim League, has also voiced strong opposition to any attempt to make the complete rendition part of official programmes.
The controversy has also drawn criticism from outside the UDF.
P Mujeeb Rahman, Kerala chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, said the government's position was not what people expected from the UDF and termed the move to have Vande Mataram sung in its entirety "protest-worthy."
VHP HITS BACK AT OPPOSITION
The political battle has now travelled beyond Kerala.
In Delhi, Vishwa Hindu Parishad national spokesperson Vinod Bansal criticised Pinarayi Vijayan's position, arguing that Vande Mataram cannot be reduced to an RSS-versus-secularism debate.
Bansal invoked the song's association with India's freedom struggle and generations of freedom fighters who drew inspiration from it. He also referred to soldiers serving in extreme conditions along India's borders, arguing that a song associated with sacrifice for the country should not be discouraged on the eve of Independence Day.
His contention was that the historical legacy of Vande Mataram predates contemporary political battles and should not be viewed merely through the prism of the RSS.
Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, meanwhile, took a different route.
Without directly referring to the Vande Mataram controversy, Chandrasekhar questioned in a post on X whether Kerala was debating the issues that actually mattered.
Pointing to the recurring floods in the state and the loss of lives, homes and livelihoods, he argued that Kerala should instead be discussing accountability, solutions and systemic change.
"Are we discussing the right things in Keralam?" he asked, accusing the political establishment of getting distracted by "manufactured controversies."
With Independence Day just days away, the controversy has therefore moved beyond the question of how many stanzas of India's national song should be sung.
