Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar reiterated his unwavering loyalty to the Gandhis and the Congress amid row over RSS anthem recital.
Published Aug 26, 2025 | 4:15 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 26, 2025 | 4:15 PM
DK Shivakumar addressing the media on Tuesday.
Synopsis: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said he intended to taunt Opposition leader R Ashoka in the Assembly, but some people misused his rendition of the RSS anthem to create confusion among the public.
Reiterating his unwavering loyalty to the Gandhis and the Congress, Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday, 26 August, expressed willingness to apologise to his supporters for singing the Ganageetham, the RSS anthem, in the state Assembly.
Speaking to reporters, he offered to apologise if anyone was hurt, but categorically ruled out political pressure behind his willingness to express regret.
“I am a born Congressman, and will die as a Congressman. I would like to reiterate my loyalty to the Gandhi family and the Congress party,” he said, later adding that “The Gandhi family is my God and I am the devotee.”
Shivakumar said his rendition of a few lines of the RSS anthem, intended to taunt BJP leaders, was misused to create confusion among the public.
DK Shivakumar recalled several instances of his display of loyalty to the party. He also recalled how he became the target of several central agencies for his loyalty to Congress and protecting the party’s interests. “I will place all of this on record in the legislative assembly,” he said.
The deputy chief minister’s rendition of ‘Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhoome’, normally sung at RSS shakhas, took political Karnataka by surprise. However, he used the RSS anthem to taunt Opposition leader R Ashoka, which backfired on the senior Congress leader.
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 earlier 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.
