INDIA Trying To Divide People, BJP Slams DMK Minister's "Sanatan" Remark

The BJP Tamil Nadu unit has slammed State Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy for his remarks that the opposition INDIA alliance was forged as an "opposition to Sanatan ideology," saying the DMK was trying to divide people on religious lines for electoral gains.

Parties like the Congress and Left were aiding DMK, the BJP alleged.

Ponmudy's remarks show the "cat is out of the bag," the saffron party's TN Vice-President Narayanan Thirupathy said in a social media post.

He was responding to a viral video of Ponmudy, a senior DMK leader, at a recent anti-Sanatan Dharma conference here that the multi-party INDIA bloc has been created against Sanatan ideology.

"This INDIA (bloc) is an alliance created in opposition to Sanatan ideology. There may be differences of opinion (among its constituents) but there is no divergence in opposing Sanatan. Those (parties) in this (grouping) want to create equality, safeguard minorities, protect gender equality," Ponmudy was heard saying in the video.

"This is the social thinking of these 26 parties that have created the INDIA alliance. This is their motive," Ponmudy added.

Incidentally, DMK leader and Chief Minister M K Stalin's son Udhayanidhi, also a cabinet member, had made remarks against Sanatan Dharma in the same conference, sparking a row.

Thirupathy shared the video clip showing Ponmudy making these remarks on his X social media handle and said "the DMK alliance is conspiring to divide the country on religious lines." "Ponmudy has said this (remarks regarding INDIA alliance) at a meeting titled "Sanatana Dhrama Abolition Conference." What should be seen (inferred) specifically is that to protect the minorities, Sanatan policies must be eradicated," he said in a video.

This means to "abolish Hindu religious practices; to oppose Sanatan means to oppose Hinduism, hurt the practices of Hindus, eradicate Hindu practices...this shows how communal they are," he said in an apparent reference to the opposition alliance.

"The cat is out of the bag-- their conspiracy is to create a coordinated attack on Hindus during the Lok sabha polls," he alleged.

Referring to Ponmudy's remarks, he claimed to protect minorities means "attack the majority, their beliefs and this we can understand easily." He alleged the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu and its allies-- Congress and the Left would carry out a campaign against Hindus and their beliefs, especially among the minorities, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

He asserted Sanatan refers to Hindu religious practices only. "The DMK is trying to divide people on the basis of religion and the Congress, Communists and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) are aiding it in that. They want to divide the country on religious lines and assume power. A conspiracy is being hatched for this, we will break it," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)