Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks came at a writers' conference in Chennai.
Commenting on MK Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin's controversial remarks on Sanatana Dharma, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar today called for a "national mission" to rid India of "dynastic politics".
Mr Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology, said that these dynasties have enriched themselves at the expense of the poor and vulnerable and that it is time for a change.
"It must become a national mission - a mission for all Indians to rid our country and our politics of these shameless exploitative dynasty families of UPA/INDIA. These dynasties have made themselves rich beyond imagination and always kept people poor and vulnerable. These dynasties are truly the parasites who for decades preyed on people's vulnerabilities and sucked out our nations and people's wealth," Mr Chandrasekhar wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"As a cover for their corruption and parasitic behavior, they create narratives like "Protecting Dravidian Land" and abuse the Hindu faith. The only thing they protect is their own wealth & politics. In all their years, they haven't done even 1% of what PM Narendra Modi ji has done for Tamil Nadu in only nine years," he added.
Udhayanidhi Stalin said on Saturday that Sanatana Dharma is a system of beliefs that is against the idea of social justice and must be "eradicated". He compared Sanatana Dharma to diseases like dengue and malaria, which are harmful and must be eliminated. His statement has been met with sharp criticism from BJP leaders, who have accused him of intolerance, bigotry and hate speech.
"Rahul Gandhi speaks of 'mohabbat ki dukaan' but Congress ally DMK's scion talks about eradicating Sanatana Dharma. Congress's silence is support for this genocidal call. INDIA Alliance, true to its name, if given an opportunity, will annihilate the millennia-old civilisation that is Bharat," BJP's IT Cell chief Amit Malviya posted on X.
He further claimed that this is tantamount to calling for the genocide of 80% of the population of India, who follow Sanatana Dharma.
K Annamalai, Tamil Nadu BJP chief, accused Udhayanidhi Stalin and Chief Minister MK Stalin, of echoing the ideas of Christian missionaries.
"The only resolve that the 'Gopalapuram Family' has is to accumulate wealth beyond the State GDP. Thiru Udhayanidhi Stalin, you, your father, or his or your idealogue have a bought-out idea from Christian missionaries and the idea of those missionaries was to cultivate dimwits like you to parrot their malicious ideology," Mr Annamalai wrote on X.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh slammed INDIA bloc leaders Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav, saying that they are trying to abolish Sanatana Dharma.
"Lalu ji and Nitish ji, has MK Stalin's son been made INDIA bloc's spokesperson? Should Sanatana Dharma be abolished? Under the same scheme, the holiday of Hindus was stopped in Bihar. Lalu ji and Nitish ji will have to answer whether the school holidays canceled in Bihar were cancelled under such a scheme. Is destroying Hindu religion the agenda of his alliance?" Mr Singh asked.
The DMK, a member of the INDIA bloc, met with other opposition leaders in Mumbai recently to streamline strategies for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where they will be contesting against the BJP-led NDA.
Congress leader Nana Patole distanced the party from Mr Stalin's remarks. Mr Patole said that the Congress party respects all religions and does not want to make any comments that could hurt anyone's sentiments.
"Congress' stand is clear, we do not want to comment on any religion or to hurt anyone's sentiments," he said as quoted by news agency ANI.
