Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu row continues at TVK Cabinet induction

Chennai: The ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu’ was played after ‘Vande Mataram’ and the national anthem during the swearing in of Tamil Nadu ministers on Thursday, rekindling the debate over the order in which it should be played.

DMK MP Kanimozhi criticized the govt for pushing ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu’ to the third place. “When ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu’ was similarly denied priority and insulted last time, the TVK govt had said that this would not happen again. Why is the govt now remaining silent despite seeing it happen again?” she asked in an X post. DMK organizational secretary R S Bharathi also condemned it. “This is an indication that TN would be pushed backwards,” he said.

School education minister Rajmohan said that he had requested Lok Bhavan to play ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu’ first. “But they said since it was Lok Bhavan event, orders of the Union govt order would be followed,” he said.

CPM state secretary P Shanmugam said the party raised the issue with chief minister Vijay. “He told us that efforts were made to change the sequence, but the governor refused, citing a Feb 2026 Union govt order,” Shanmugam said.

CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said the governor should respect the sentiments of the Tamil people. “We are not against Indian national songs. We hold the national anthem in high regard. But priority should be given to Tamil, we urge him to think deeply about that,” he told reporters on Thursday.

EOM/