Under fire from BJP over Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks, INDIA alliance divided, DMK leader stands his ground

Responding to a BJP leader’s dig at him over his mother Durga’s religiosity — she visited the Guruvayurappan temple in Kerala last week and offered a golden crown weighing around 30 sovereigns — Udhayanidhi said he wasn’t opposed to worship. “Did I speak against worshipping God? No. We fought for the rights of Dalits’ temple entry, rights of Dalits to conduct pujas.”

In New Delhi, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said, “Our view is very clear. Sarva Dharma Samabhava is the Congress ideology but you have to understand that every political party has their own freedom to tell their views. We are respecting everybody’s beliefs.”

Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said, “Any religion that does not promote equality, any religion that does not ensure that you have the dignity of being a human being is not a religion according to me. Any religion that does not have equal rights and does not treat you as a human being is as good as a disease.”

Revealing the divisions in the INDIA bloc over the controversy, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a statement, “I respect the people of Tamil Nadu and South India. But my humble request to them is to respect all as every religion has separate sentiments. India is a secular and democratic country. India is about ‘Unity in Diversity’, which is our origin. I respect Sanatan Dharma and we derive our learnings from the Vedas. We have so many purohits and our state Government offers them pension … As far as the remarks (of Udhayanidhi Stalin) are concerned, he is a junior. From my side, I am not clear about why and on what grounds he has made the comment. I feel that each and every religion should be equally respected.”

Without naming the Tamil Nadu Minister, Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), whose party is a constituent of the INDIA bloc, criticised him. “Sanatan Dharm stands for eternal truth — the way to live life — the conscience & being. Sanatanis have long withstood attacks by invaders to end their identity yet they have not just survived but thrived. The country’s bedrock, which is linked to sanatan dharm, has been of inclusiveness of all faiths and identities. Anyone making derogatory comments against it is ignorant of what it stands for,” she posted on X.

Chaturvedi also hit out at the BJP for its “fake concern” that “exposes their sick hypocrisy”, pointing to the police lathi-charge on Maratha community protesters in Maharashtra demanding reservation. The BJP is one of the parties in power in the state.

CPI general secretary D Raja, whose party is also in the 28-party Opposition coalition, sided with Udayanidhi. “Perpetuation of caste & gender hierarchies in the name of Sanatana Dharma is undoing the Herculean work of reformers like Mahatma Phule, Dr Ambedkar and Periyar. RSS-BJP must clarify their position. Lip-service to Dr. Ambedkar with Manusmriti in heart will be called out,” Raja posted on X.

Meanwhile, the BJP kept up its attack on INDIA over Udhayanidhi’s comments. Launching the party’s “Parivartan Sankalp Yatra” in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “The DMK, a Congress ally, is insulting Sanatan (Dharma). They say Sanatan Dharma should be abolished. Allies of the INDIA coalition are silent. Why are Gehlot ji (Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot), Sonia ji (Congress leader Sonia Gandhi) silent? The Congress and the INDIA alliance should apologise.”

His Cabinet colleague Anurag Thakur accused the INDIA bloc of stooping to “politics of polarisation” to derive political mileage and claimed that people have seen through their gameplan. After an event in Harbanspur village in Punjab’s Kapurthala district, Thakur told reporters, “Leaders of the INDIA alliance should tender a public apology to the nation as well as the Hindu community. The Congress and its allies are in a desperate race to malign and demean the Hindus, either by calling them extremists or by their verbal barbs or physical attacks, especially in West Bengal, Bihar, and other places. Their ‘mansha (objective)’ and ‘mansikata (mindset)’ is to polarise people with an eye on votes but people will throw them away as they have understood their designs.”

At a press conference, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “A competition to abuse, curse, and humiliate India’s civilisation, basic faith, Sanatan Dharma, and Hindu Dharma has started among the leaders of the arrogant coalition. This incident happened three days ago. This incident did not happen spontaneously or suddenly. Udhayanidhi made the comment at a seminar. Before that, there was a meeting of the arrogant alliance in which they could not decide on the coordinator and leader, but decided the policy of degrading Sanatan Dharma.”

Responding to Venugopal’s comments, he said, “Just now, prominent Congress leader Venugopal ji crossed all limits. He said the Congress believes in the equality of religions but also respects freedom of expression. We want to ask if abusing Sanatan Dharma and abusing the Hindu religion are the policies of Congress and the arrogant alliance.”— With PTI inputs