Talks later, let govt settle down first: Acharya

Asked about the defeat of the Vajpayee government and surprise return of Congress, the Acharya said: ‘‘It is you people who have voted. What am I to say?’’ Then, he quoted a verse from Gita and remarked: ‘‘To a sanyasin, happiness and grief are emotions that have to be handled with equanimity.’’

To a pointed question on Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s decision to not take up PM’s post, he said: ‘‘Some people take voluntary retirement.’’

Even before he fielded the next question, a devotee came up with a petition emblazoned with the picture of TN Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. After a glance at the petition, he asked the Mutt staff to do the needful. Obviously, the next question was on the Jayalalithaa government withdrawing the law against forcible conversion. ‘‘Yes. It is true I backed the law. But she brought in the law and she has withdrawn it now. You have to ask her. As for me, I maintain silence (on the issue).’’

On the DMK charge that he was responsible for bringing about an alliance between the AIADMK and the BJP, he said: ‘‘That is the DMK’s campaign. Will they also say that I was responsible for the victory of the Congress alliance?’’ He refused to comment on the rout of BJP-AIADMK alliance in Tamil Nadu.