DMK youth wing leader and Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday said that no Swamis or Sankaracharyas attended the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya because Prime Minister Narendra Modi had participated in it.
“I said it four months ago. I spoke for you. I said all are equal,” he said, recalling his speech on Sanatana Dharma, and suggesting that the seers had stayed away because Mr. Modi belonged to the backward caste.
He said that he would not apologise for his remarks on Sanatana Dharma. “I am the grandson of Kalaignar (Karunanidhi). I will not take back my comment. I respect the courts. There is nothing wrong in what I have said. I hope I will get justice. It is my firm belief that all are equal by birth,” he said, while participating in the party poll booth agents meeting organised by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P.K. Sekarbabu in the East Chennai DMK district unit.
Mr. Udhayanidhi said that the BJP government had not invited President Droupadi Murmu for the inauguration of the new Parliament as she was a widow and belonged to a tribal community. “But it invited all sanyasis and placed a sengol in Parliament,” he said.
Reiterating that the DMK was not against any religion or construction of the Ram temple, he said it should be kept in mind that the President was not invited even for that event.
He further said that the DMK government had sought funds due to the State from the Centre, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was not ready to release them. “She alleged that I had spoken in a denigrating manner. Subsequently I spoke in a respectful way. We are asking only what the people of Tamil Nadu have paid as tax...”
Mr. Sekarbabu said the meeting chalked out strategies for booth agents in Harbour, Egmore and Villivakkam Assembly constituencies falling under the Central Chennai Lok Sabha constituency. Central Chennai MP participated.
