The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] on Saturday sought to put the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on the defensive by accusing the key ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) ally of “mutely acquiescing” in the Kerala Chief Secretary’s directive instructing government departments and public sector entities to render the “pro-Hindutva” Vande Mataram in its entirety during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan told a press conference in Kannur that the order promulgated by the Chief Secretary has further reinforced the public perception that the UDF government has mutated into an ideological proxy for the Hindutva agenda-driven Central government.

Mr. Govindan said the Congress-led government has ignored the Constituent Assembly’s conclusion that Vande Mataram was a poor substitute for the secular and inclusive national anthem and should not be rendered in full at State functions.

Mr. Govindan said the founding fathers did not object to the first two lines of the song, which they believed projected the image of a secular and egalitarian nation. However, the Constituent Assembly, he said, concluded that the following lines had a pronouncedly Hindu-majoritarian tint that could potentially undermine national unity and should be best avoided.

“The BJP does not rule Kerala. But it can rest assured that the UDF government is an ideal surrogate for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh- (RSS) controlled dispensation at the Centre,” Mr. Govindan said.

Mr. Govindan alleged that the IUML had supplicantly fallen in line with the Congress-led UDF government’s soft-Hindutva political line without the whimper of a protest. “IUML Ministers have instructed their respective domains, including the General Education, Industries and Local Self-Government departments, to comply with the Chief Secretary’s order.”

He said the Congress’s scarcely veiled soft-Hindutva pivot in Kerala had publicly manifested in the General Education department’s decision to include a politically loaded question whitewashing RSS ideologue V.D. Savarkar’s “treacherous role” in the Independence struggle in a “Freedom Quiz” for lower primary students in State-funded schools in the run-up to the 80th Independence Day celebrations on August 15.

Mr. Govindan said Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan could no longer feign surprise as the latter did when Vande Mataram was rendered in full during the UDF government’s swearing-in ceremony. “The Chief Secretary’s order evidently bears the imprimatur of the Chief Minister,” he added.

Published - August 08, 2026 07:39 pm IST