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Row over Tamil Nadu state song being played after national anthem, Vande Mataram at ministers' oath event
P Shanmugam said that the issue had already been raised with the CM, who clarified that Vande Mataram would be played first at all events attended by Governor
A political row has erupted once again in Tamil Nadu over the order in which the state song, Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu, was played, this time during the swearing-in ceremony of newly inducted ministers at Lok Bhavan on Thursday. The controversy centres around the invocation song being rendered after Vande Mataram and the national anthem.
The event was held in the presence of chief minister C Joseph Vijay, marking his first cabinet expansion. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath to 23 newly inducted ministers, including 21 TVK MLAs and two Congress legislators.
The Left parties objected strongly to the sequence in which the songs were played, arguing that the Tamil invocation song should not have followed Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana at the ceremony, a news agency PTI report added.
This is not the first time the issue has come up. A similar controversy had erupted earlier when the Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu was sung third during chief minister Vijay’s swearing-in on May 10, again after Vande Mataram and the national anthem.
CPI calls for priority to state song
Reacting to the latest incident, CPI state secretary M Veerapandian stressed that the sentiments of Tamil people must be respected and the state anthem should be given precedence.
"We reiterate that the Governor should pay more attention to prioritising the Tamil Anthem. We respect India's national song and national anthem. But we reiterate that the Governor should give priority to the Tamil anthem," PTI quoted him as saying in Chennai.
He clarified that the party was not opposed to either Vande Mataram or Jana Gana Mana, but objected only to the sequence at official functions.
CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam, meanwhile, said that the issue had already been raised with the chief minister, who reportedly clarified that Vande Mataram would be played first at all events attended by the Governor, the news agency report added.
At that time, Veerapandian had questioned the status of Vande Mataram, arguing that “It had been established during the freedom struggle itself that 'Vande Mataram' could not serve as the national anthem because the song is dedicated to a specific deity and possesses a sectarian religious character,” the news agency had reported.
What did TVK say before
The ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam had distanced itself from the controversy, with its newly inducted minister Aadhav Arjuna claiming that the party did not agree with the Tamil invocation song being played third and supported the established practice followed in the state.
Arjuna also said the matter was taken up with Governor Arlekar after the ceremony, and the Governor’s office reportedly cited a Union government circular as the reason for the sequence followed.
“When we pressed the Governor's side on this matter, it was conveyed that the Governor, as the responsible authority, must act according to the new circular from the Union government,” he wrote in a post on X.
However, Arjuna further described the sequence followed at the event as “inappropriate for Tamil Nadu”.
He added that the arrangement would not continue in future events, stating: “In future times, this new practice will not be followed. Instead, as per the earlier practice, the Tamil invocation song will be played at the beginning of the event, and the national anthem at the end.”
