Overview
- Southern Railway shared a reel of students singing a song associated with the RSS during the inaugural Ernakulam–KSR Bengaluru Vande Bharat journey, describing it as patriotic.
- Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called the inclusion of the RSS anthem in an official event a violation of constitutional principles and an affront to secular values.
- After backlash, Southern Railway deleted the video; one subsequent post described the performance as the school's song with an English translation, according to The Week.
- Opposition leaders, including Congress’s K. C. Venugopal and V. D. Satheesan, condemned the episode and sought an inquiry, while DYFI also issued a protest statement.
- The principal of Saraswathi Vidyanikethan Public School said Railways had no role, claiming a TV crew requested a Malayalam song and the students then sang the Gana Geetham.