Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan slammed the Southern Railway on Saturday for making students sing an RSS song on board the Vande Bharat Express.
A viral video showed school students singing the RSS song during the inauguration of the Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express.
The students of Saraswathi Vidyalaya beautifully performed their school song during the inaugural run of the Ernakulam–Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express pic.twitter.com/uvauXy9e6k
— Southern Railway (@GMSRailway) November 8, 2025
Calling the act a violation of constitutional principles, Pinarayi said using the Railways, which is the country's largest public sector undertaking, to spread the Sangh Parivar's alleged communal political propaganda is unacceptable.
The Kerala CM said it was a mockery of the Indian national movement, slamming the Southern Railway for sharing the video on social media with the caption, “a patriotic song”.
The Congress-led UDF also slammed the Southern Railway with Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan calling the act "illegal and undemocratic". He went on to allege that the BJP was trying to implement the politics of division in Kerala.
"Just as it uses constitutional institutions, including the Election Commission, for political purposes, the central government is now using the Indian Railways for communal propaganda," Satheesan claimed.
Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Ramesh Chennithala said it was "a highly despicable political conspiracy", which is is tantamount to insulting the nation itself. He said all government and constitutional institutions "should show the dignity to refrain from such actions".
Amid outrage over the incident, the Southern Railway removed the social media post. However, the video resurfaced again, only this time Southern Railway posted the English translation of the song. "The students of Saraswathi Vidyalaya beautifully performed their school song during the inaugural run of the Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express," it said in the post.
