Overview
- Students were made to sing the RSS Gana Geet during the Ernakulam–Bengaluru Vande Bharat inauguration, prompting public objections from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
- Vijayan called the inclusion of the RSS song at a government function a breach of constitutional secularism and urged citizens to resist such politicisation.
- Southern Railway posted the performance on Facebook and Instagram as a patriotic number, and later removed images of the children after the backlash, according to IANS.
- Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas criticized Indian Railways and shared the video, alleging the event sidelined public representatives in favor of political messaging.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kerala’s third Vande Bharat service virtually from Varanasi, with Union minister Suresh Gopi and senior BJP leaders present at the Ernakulam event.