Shivakumar may have intended his singing of 'Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhoome' to needle the Bharatiya Janata Party by displaying his knowledge of the Sangh. But the move quickly backfired, thanks to his party colleagues.
Published Aug 25, 2025 | 4:48 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 25, 2025 | 4:48 PM
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Synopsis: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s recital of the RSS anthem, albeit sarcastically, in the Assembly last week has triggered a political storm. The episode, which came during a debate on the Bengaluru stampede, quickly went viral and led to speculation about his political loyalties, forcing Shivakumar to reaffirm his commitment to the Congress. Since then, Shivakumar has faced sharp criticism from within his own party, while others have been quick to express their opposition to the RSS ideology.
When Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar broke into an impromptu rendition of the opening lines of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) anthem in the Assembly last week, it was greeted with a thumping response from the Opposition benches, while members on the treasury benches sat in silence, seemingly stunned.
The dripping sarcasm, it seems, was lost on most; while others went into ‘damage control’ mode fully aware how the recital could play out in the public eye.
He was speaking during a debate on the 4 June stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium when Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka reminded him that he had once worn the “RSS chaddi.”
Observers say Shivakumar may have intended his singing of ‘Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhoome’ to needle the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by showing off his knowledge of the Sangh. But the move quickly backfired.
The video of the recital went viral on social media, setting the speculation mill on overdrive. Amid rumours that it was a signal of him jumping ship, Shivakumar was forced to repeatedly affirm his loyalty to the Congress the following day.
Since then, some Congress MLAs have spoken in his defence, while others have felt the need to stress their own opposition to the RSS, the BJP’s ideological parent.
The controversy could not have come at a worse time for the party, given it is already witnessing internal contradictions over the allegations of mass burials in Dharmasthala, which Shivakumar himself had previously described as a “conspiracy.”
“The move was not just unwise; it was politically tone-deaf. His own leader [Rahul Gandhi] is stridently opposed to the organisation, and in the age of social media, his words can easily be stripped out of context and weaponised by the BJP-RSS,” noted political commentator Gautham Machaiah told South First.
Sources close to the Deputy Chief Minister said the developments were amusing. “Anyone who was in the House that day could clearly see he was mocking the BJP and showing them their place. These planted stories of shifting loyalties and ideologies are a joke,” the source said.
I am a Congressman for life!
I am a born Congressman; my blood, my life, everything is here. I know my friends and I know my opponents, and I understand them with clarity of thought. The RSS and BJP must reflect on their own history and ties, but let there be no doubt – I stand… pic.twitter.com/CTmOtK4FVF
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) August 22, 2025
Among those who launched a scathing attack on DK Shivakumar was former Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna, who was recently sacked after his comments on Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote theft’ allegations.
The party high command had viewed his remarks as indirectly blaming the state Congress leadership for the alleged irregularities during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“He [Shivakumar] can recite the RSS anthem, share the dais with BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a private event, and do whatever he wants. But we cannot say anything,” Rajanna, a close aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, told reporters on Sunday.
He was referring to Shivakumar’s visit to the Isha Yoga Centre in Tamil Nadu for Mahashivaratri celebrations alongside Amit Shah in March this year. Rajanna also pointed out that Shivakumar took a holy dip at the Sangam in Prayagraj during the Kumbh Mela in February.
“Days after AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge said taking a dip in Triveni Sangama during Kumbh Mela won’t eradicate poverty, Shivakumar visited Prayagraj and took a holy dip. Rahul Gandhi refused to attend Mukesh Ambani’s son’s wedding, but Shivakumar went there along with his family,” Rajanna said, suggesting that Shivakumar was more inclined towards the Hindutva ideology espoused by the BJP-RSS.
Analysts, however, say this is not a case of “soft Hindutva.”
“Shivakumar has never hidden his religious side; he openly visits temples and conducts homas. This, rather, was a publicity stunt that backfired badly,” Machaiah noted.
Another veteran Congress leader, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, who is also close to Siddaramaiah, took a veiled swipe at Shivakumar.
“If singing the RSS anthem is enough for one to become the Chief Minister, then MLA Channareddy and I will sing it,” Jarkiholi told reporters on Sunday.
He also remarked that Shivakumar has an “uncanny knack” for singing Sanskrit shlokas, recalling how he had recited one during a debate in the Assembly.
The fact that both Rajanna and Jarkiholi, known to be close to Siddaramaiah, criticised Shivakumar has once again brought the simmering feud between the two camps into sharp focus within political circles.
Another senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad pulled up Shivakumar for reciting the anthem and demanded an apology from him. “He should apologise, I don’t know whom DK Shivakumar wanted to please by doing that or what message he wanted to send,” Hariprasad said.
He further remarked that DK Shivakumar has several “faces”, as a farmer, businessman, and an educationist. “I don’t know if this is one of them,” he added.
Amid the controversy, other Congress leaders, while not directly referring to DK Shivakumar, have felt the need to reaffirm their criticism of the RSS.
Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge declared in a post on X on Sunday that “not even the air that touches the RSS should touch us” if India is to truly become enlightened and prosperous.
He further said that the Congress has always regarded the RSS as “a poisonous organisation that has infused ethnic hatred, the cruelty of the caste system, Nazism and Manuvada into the nerves and blood of the people, as its eternal enemy.”
Invoking the warnings of Dr BR Ambedkar and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Kharge said their messages about the RSS must be taken seriously.
“The RSS, which collaborated with the British and acted against India, intensified its anti-unity activities even after independence. Sardar Patel, who foresaw the danger of the Sangh Parivar at that time, had imposed a ban on it,” he said.
Kharge also claimed that neither the BJP nor the Sangh Parivar can point to even ten contributions the RSS has made to the country in the last hundred years.
Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa also invoked Ambedkar’s critique of the RSS’s casteist ideology.
“These people, who worship a dog as Narayana, a monkey as Hanuman, a pig as Varaha, and a cow as a mother, do not see humans as humans, nor do they give them water to drink. The same words of Babasaheb still apply today, and we have many examples to prove it,” Mahadevappa wrote in a post on X.
Defending Shivakumar’s actions, Congress MLA HD Ranganath sang the opening lines of the RSS anthem on Sunday and described it as a “very good song.”
“I heard it after the deputy CM sang it in the Assembly. I see nothing wrong in that. Ours is a secular party, and we must accept good things from others,” he told reporters in his Kunigal constituency in Tumakuru district.
But he was quick to add: “Right-wingers insist on creating divisions of caste and religion, which we oppose. Their ideology can never match ours. But what is wrong if someone sings a song from the RSS? I am only asking this question.”
On the same day, Shivakumar joined Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar. Political analysts noted that Gandhi appeared to give him a cold shoulder during the rally.
“Unlike in the past, Rahul has begun taking a tougher line on internal discipline, as seen in the sacking of Rajanna for his loose remarks on vote chori,” observed Machaiah.
Nevertheless, analysts believe the party shouldn’t read too much into Shivakumar’s actions.
“His singing of the RSS anthem is just an indication to show that there are no strict, boundary lines for the politicians. In the current case, he was only sarcastically cajoling the opposition. This should not be taken seriously by the party or its seniors,” political analyst Harish Ramaswamy told South First.
Ramaswamy added that while Shivakumar was signalling possibilities in politics while also committing himself to the Congress’s ideology, the party as a whole is losing its ideological edge.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
