SIVAGANGA:Breaking the staunch Dravidian tradition of keeping away from temples to propagate atheism, DMK treasurer M K Stalin, perhaps, for the first time, visited a temple in public as part of his ‘Namakku Naame’ campaign in Sivaganga district.
Accompanied by his wife Durga, he went to Sri Sowmya Narayana Perumal Temple in Thirukoshtiyur near Tiruppathur on Tuesday much to the surprise of the DMK cadre.
The temple occupies a significant place in the history of Vaishnavism. Being one among the 108 Divya Desams of Lord Perumal, it has a famous astanga vimana above the presiding deity from where great Vaishnavite saint and social reformer Sri Ramanuja preached the holy Narayana Mantra to everyone irrespective of caste.
While Stalin entered the temple, media persons were not allowed. Though some said he offered prayers, party insiders denied saying he went there only to see the vimana from where the saint preached the mantra as he was fond of the serial on Ramanujar telecast in the party-owned Kalaignar TV.
He started his campaign from Tiruppathur after hoisting the party flag. Then, he drove down to Thirukoshtiyur. After visiting the temple, Stalin interacted with farmers in Uzhavar Santhai, a pet project launched by his father M Karunanidhi during the DMK regime in 1999.
Covering some distance by foot, he went to a marriage hall where he spoke to women from self-help groups. He told them that DMK president Karunanidhi, influenced by the ideals of social reformer Periyar E V Ramaswamy, formed the first SHG in the state in 1989.
Later, he went to Karaikudi where he addressed a gathering near Anna Statue unmindful of the drizzle.
Stalin said he has so far visited 55 out of 234 assembly constituencies under the ‘Namakku Naame’ campaign, a name given by his father.
As he was speaking, a 108 ambulance service carrying a patient was struggling to veer through the crowd. Noticing it, he appealed to the public to give way for the ambulance.
He claimed that the other major political parties were shocked over the public reception to his campaign.
Representatives of the Karaikudi Chamber of Commerce and Industry submitted a petition to him seeking to form Karaikudi as a separate district and upgrade the municipality to a corporation.