Bharat Mata row: CPI(M) accuses Kerala Governor of crossing Constitutional line by using RSS symbols at State events

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has accused Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar of crossing a Constitutional line by using Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) emblems at official functions hosted by Raj Bhavan.

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan told reporters on Friday (June 20, 2025) that General Education Minister V. Sivankutty had held the Constitutional line by walking out of a State function where Mr. Arlekar paid obeisance to the image of a “woman holding a saffron flag”, a ubiquitous heraldic device used by the RSS.

He said the picture, “replete with majoritarian religious imagery, broadcast the RSS’ schismatic aspiration to render India a Hindu nation by supplanting the Constitution with the Manusmriti”, an anachronistic and ancient text subscribes to a Hindu society defined by a segregationist and repressive caste and gender-based hierarchy. 

The CPI(M) welcomed the government’s decision to include the Governor’s role, responsibilities and Constitutional limitations as Head of State of Provincial Governments. 

“Under severe social criticism for using RSS imagery at State events, Raj Bhavan initially recanted the political symbolism but relapsed to Sangh Parivar’s ways soon after,” Mr. Govindan said.