 "Ravi Shankar Prasad")
Amid a row over Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) alliance has been formed to "oppose" and "finish" Sanatan Dharma.
Addressing a press conference at party headquarters in the national capital, the BJP leader accused the Opposition alliance of vote bank politics.
"...Their hidden agenda is to do vote bank politics by opposing Sanatana Dharma...I ask the Congress party and this alliance - Do they have the right to criticise deities of some other faith? Do they have the courage? Can they do it?... They stay silent on other religions but openly oppose Sanatana," Prasad said.
Hitting back at Tamil Nadu Education Minister Ponmudy's remarks on Sanatana Dharma at a recent DMK event, the BJP functionary said, "DMK Education Minister Ponmudy's remark has come to light. There is a saying in English 'The cat is out of the bag'. What they thought has become clear. INDIA alliance has been formed to oppose and finish Sanatana Dharma..."
The BJP leader said that the DMK Education minister made the remarks at the same 'anti-Sanatana Dharma' event where Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin's son compared Sanatana to dengue and malaria and another DMK leader, A Raja termed it "worse than AIDS".
The BJP leader also slammed Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and opposition leaders for opposing Triple Talaq. "They also opposed Triple Talaq," he said.
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"Sonia ji, How far will you go for the sake of votes and how long?" asked Prasad.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chairing a meeting of the Council of Ministers, weighed in on the furore around Udhayanidhi's remarks, and according to sources asked his ministers to aggressively counter the attack on Sanatan Dharma.
He advised his ministers to counter the Opposition's narrative on the Sanatan Dharma with facts.
Earlier, Trichy police booked BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya for allegedly spreading misinformation and distorting Udhayanidhi's remarks.
The move was seen as a response to Udhayanidhi and Congress leader Priyank Kharge being booked for allegedly "hurting religious sentiments". An FIR was filed on a complaint by two advocates at Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
