I have great respect for God's own country, its temples and the people, said DK Shivakumar.
After facing flak, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday clarified that he had only said that black magic rituals took place near a Kerala temple and not inside it.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said, “My statement has been misconstrued. I never said that the black magic ritual ‘Shatru Bairavi Yagna' against me and the Chief Minister was performed in the Raja Rajeshwara temple in Kerala. I had mentioned the rituals took place in a private land near the temple.”
He was replying to the statement by a Kerala Minister that animal sacrifice does not take place in Kerala temples.
“I have great respect for God's own country, its temples and the people. My statement has been misunderstood. I did not mean to hurt the sentiments of anyone. I had recently visited the Raja Rajeshwara temple and I am a devotee of the temple. I only referred to the temple to indicate the location of the black magic rituals,” he said.
“I would not like to talk about who is behind the black magic rituals, I only shared the details that I received. The Kerala minister has said that an inquiry would be ordered into the incident and I welcome that decision,” he said.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar stated on Thursday that political opponents were performing black magic through ‘Aghoris' and ‘tantriks' at a temple in Kerala against him and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He had said that he had credible information that a yagna (special worship) was conducted by ‘Aghoris' in an isolated place near the Raja Rajeshwara temple in Kerala.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)