DMK a communal party: BJP leader guns for Udhayanidhi Stalin over Sanatan rant

CHENNAI: Accusing the ruling DMK of being a "communal party" that sustains itself through the minority vote banks, the BJP's Tamil Nadu vice president Narayanan Thirupathy on Sunday said the ruling party in the state was like a "cancer", which will be treated through the principles of 'Sanatana Dharma'. His remark came in response to DMK leader and minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's rant against 'Sanatan Dharma', equating it with "mosquitoes, Dengue, Malaria, fever and Corona".

Hitting back at the DMK leader over his remark that 'Sanatan Dharma' should be eradicated and not merely opposed, the BJP leader, in a video message posted on his official handle on 'X', said "Sanatana Dharma is eternal". "This is not new for the DMK. For them, good things are bad and bad things are good. 'Sanatana Dharma' is eternal. DMK is a communal party that survives on the votes of Muslims and Christians," Thirupathy said.

"The decision on which way the votes of these communities should go is decided at their places of worship. But the Hindus don't vote like that. The DMK is like a cancer and will be treated through the principles of 'Sanatana Dharma'," he added in his video message. Addressing a conference in Chennai on Saturday, the minister for Sports and Youth Affairs in the Tamil Nadu government railed against Sanatan Dharma, saying, "Few things cannot be opposed, they should only be abolished. We can't oppose Dengue, mosquitoes, Malaria, or Corona, we have to eradicate them. In the same way, we have to eradicate Sanatana (Sanatan Dharma). Rather than merely opposing Sanatana, it should be eradicated."

"In a scathing retort to the DMK leader over his remarks, Annamalai took to his official handle on X to post, "The only resolve that the Gopalapuram Family has is to accumulate wealth beyond the State GDP. Thiru @Udhaystalin, you, your father, or his or your idealogue have a bought-out idea from Christian missionaries & the idea of those missionaries was to cultivate ******* like you to parrot their malicious ideology." Taking a further swipe at Udhayanidhi, the BJP state chief posted, "Tamil Nadu is a land of spiritualism. The best you can do is to hold a Mic in an event like this & rant out your frustration!

"Echoing his sentiments, the BJP's IT cell head, Amit Malviya, said, the DMK minister was calling for "genocide of 80 per cent of the population of Bharat". "Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamilnadu CM MK Stalin, and a minister in the DMK Govt has linked Sanatana Dharma to malaria and dengue… He is of the opinion that it must be eradicated and not merely opposed. In short, he is calling for genocide of 80% population of Bharat, who follow Sanatan Dharma," Malviya posted on X.

Also linking the minister's remarks to the third meeting of the Opposition alliance in Mumbai, Malviya said the partners in the bloc should clarify if this was the refrain they agreed to at the huddle. "(The) DMK is a prominent member of the Opposition block and a long-standing ally of the Congress. Is this what was agreed in the Mumbai meet?" the BJP leader asked.

Significantly, the Congress is a partner of the DMK in the ruling alliance in Tamil Nadu. Seeking to steer his party away from the DMK leader's controversial remarks, Maharashtra Congress president, Nana Patole said his party does not believe in hurt religious sentiments.