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Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan connected Friday (May 29, 2026) said “Kerala is nether nary work to instrumentality the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) docket of singing the nationalist song, Vande Mataram, successful its entirety” astatine State functions.
Mr Vijayan told a property league that the normal required that lone the archetypal 2 stanzas of the opus request beryllium rendered astatine State functions, if astatine all. He said Kerala should “resist the Sangh Parivar’s divisive gambit to supplant the secular nationalist anthem with Vande Mataram.”
“Rendering of the nationalist anthem requires citizens to emergence from their seats and stay lasting till the hymn ends. Vande Mataram requires nary specified gesture. The Treasury benches roseate erstwhile the constabulary set played the archetypal verses of the nationalist song. The Opposition followed suit successful respect to the wide feeling successful the House,” helium said.
Mr Vijayan noted that Vande Mataram was sung successful its entirety astatine the swearing-in ceremonial of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government. “The authorities perchance noticed and made amends by restricting the rendition, arsenic mandated, to the archetypal verses”, helium said.
On ED raids
Mr Vijayan said the Congress has “brazenly sided” with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) erstwhile the Central authorities subverted watchdog agencies, main among them the Enforcement Directorate (ED), to politically target “non-Congress” Opposition leaders.
“The Congress protests lone erstwhile the Centre uses the ED and different agencies against its apical leaders. It cheers ED raids connected Other absorption figures, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) person and erstwhile Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. When the ED arrested and incarcerated Kejriwal (on a ailment filed by the Delhi PCC president), Congress workers burst crackers and celebrated connected the streets,” Mr. Vijayan said.
Mr Vijayan noted that Mr Kejriwal, erstwhile Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK person M K Stalin, and different INDIA bloc leaders had protested the ED raid connected his location successful Thiruvananthapuram aboriginal connected Wednesday.
(Emerging from his residence aft the arguable ED search, Mr Vijayan had pointedly noted that the raid mightiness person brought the Leader of the Opposition successful the Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, overmuch cheer. He had besides noted that Mr Gandhi had, passim his run speeches during the Assembly elections, harped connected the ED not arresting and jailing Mr Vijayan, alleging a covert woody betwixt the Communist Party of India (CPI(M)) and the BJP.)
Mr Vijayan said Chief Minister V D Satheesan was “the perfect person” to reply wherefore the UDF was soundless astir the ED raid. He said the CPI(M) had insisted connected “peaceful and antiauthoritarian protests” erstwhile journalists queried Mr Vijayan astir the onslaught connected ED officials arsenic they exited his location aft the search.
Mr Vijayan said the ED officials did not question him. He confirmed that the ED had frozen the slope relationship of his daughter, T. Veena, an IT entrepreneur.
Mr Vijayan said helium would displacement residence to Cantonment House, the authoritative residence of Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition. “Let the existent nonmigratory (Mr Satheesan) find a caller dwelling first”, helium quipped.
