Kerala’s Congress-led United Democratic Alliance decided to skip Vande Mataram at the state’s official Independence Day function on Saturday, defying the central government’s directive to sing the full six-stanza version of the national song. This came despite Congress headquarters in Delhi and official functions in the party-ruled states of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh complying with the directive.

This comes after Chief Secretary Bishwanath Sinha forwarded a central government communication to the state’s general education and local self-government departments to have the full version of Vande Mataram sung as part of its “Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign.

The communication led to a backlash, with the Opposition accusing the UDF of “toeing the Sangh Parivar line”. In response, the state’s V D Satheesan government had said that its own stand “will be made clear at Independence Day celebrations”.

Significantly, despite the government skipping the song at the state function, Vande Mataram was sung at events at the Lok Bhavan and also in the BJP-ruled Thiruvananthapuram municipal corporation. Meanwhile, the difference in the stance of the state’s political parties became stark at Independence Day celebrations at the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation, where BJP councillors recited Vande Mataram at the same time that the civic body’s ruling CPI(M) sang the national anthem.

Following the central communication, several schools in Kerala listed Vande Mataram as part of their Independence Day programme. But a circular from the general education department to all educational institutions on August 11 directed all schools to hoist the national flag and recite the national anthem at the I-Day function without mentioning Vande Mataram.

The last two weeks have been rife with suspense over whether the V D Satheesan government will allow the recital of Vande Mataram during the official function in Kerala. The BJP seized upon the issue, claiming that the Congress was acting at the behest of ally Indian Union Muslim League, which has the ministries of education and local self-government in the current government.

The BJP also announced that it would sing Vande Mataram in its entirety at 15,000 locations in Kerala, framing it as “a strong defence against forces which give support for anti-national elements”.

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The Vande Mataram controversy has been haunting the Congress government in Kerala since the day it assumed office in May this year. The song was sung in its entirety during the Cabinet’s swearing-in on May 18. For his part, Chief Minister V D Satheesan had justified the decision, saying Lok Bhavan had organised the ceremony.

With that controversy in mind, the government did not play the full version of Vande Mataram during the first session of the Assembly – a move that Lok Bhavan subsequently described as a violation of protocol.