Rajeev Chandrasekhar hits out at Kerala govt, calls RSS song row ‘manufactured’

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 10 (PTI) BJP Kerala Chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday alleged that the controversy over school students singing an RSS song onboard the newly inaugurated Vande Bharat Express was "manufactured" by the communist government in the state.

"There is nothing to prevent people from singing an inspirational song about the country," Chandrasekhar said, accusing the state government of "deliberately creating" the issue to divert attention from its failures.

His remarks came a day after the Kerala government ordered a probe into the incident on the Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express.

"It is a manufactured controversy by a communist government that has been increasingly under siege for the last 10 years of corruption and misgovernance," Chandrasekhar told PTI Videos.

He said the Pinarayi Vijayan government is facing several questions on various matters, including the recent death of a man at a government medical college hospital, allegedly due to medical negligence.

"The Left government is also facing questions on the death of an innocent woman who came to a state-run hospital to give birth, and the missing gold from the Sabarimala temple," he added.

"Now, in the middle of all these, they chose a patriotic song sung by a group of children travelling on the Vande Bharat train to manufacture a controversy. Have they forgotten Article 19, which allows us to sing any song we want?" Chandrasekhar asked.

Terming the row "ridiculous," he said, "Which part of the Constitution says that you cannot sing a patriotic song?" He also alleged that the Left government was opposing the song because it did not suit the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Jamaat-e-Islami.

"The SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami would not decide what is right and wrong in Kerala. The people of the state will decide," he said.

Chandrasekhar further stated that if the government threatens any school student over the singing of the song, the BJP would strongly oppose such action. PTI LGK SSK ROH