India is a Hindu nation: Premalatha sparks fresh controversy

CHENNAI: DMDK Treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant on Wednesday courted a controversy by saying that "India is a Hindu country" and there was no doubt that Hindus live in large numbers in the country.

DMDK celebrated its 18th year of foundation by organising various events such as hoisting flag and distributing welfare measures for the public at its party headquarters in Koyambedu.

Following the events, Premalatha, while replying to the question on the recent speech of DMK MP A Raja on Hinduism, said that though India is a land of Hindus, DMDK does not differentiate people based on their religion and caste.

The speech of Raja, in a private function, was shared by BJP state President K Annamalai in social media and he said that "Raja spewed hatred on a particular community with the sole aim of appeasing others."

The speech was widely shared by the BJP and men with right-wing ideologies alleging that Raja's speech was against Hinduism and they said that India is for Hindus.

The same sentiment was echoed by Premalatha though DMDK is not part of the BJP alliance.

Replying to a question on alliance for 2024 Parliament election, Premalatha said that the party has been involved in developmental works and there is still around 2 years left for the election to finalise the alliance.