TIRUCHY/CHENNAI: Reacting to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comment that the Thiruparankundram deepam issue would be resolved “in favour of Hindus soon”, the ruling DMK on Thursday said the tactics of the right-wing to stoke passion will not succeed in Tamil Nadu.
Speaking at the ‘100 Years of Sangh Journey - New Horizons’ event in Tiruchy on Wednesday, Bhagwat said the “awakening of Hindus in Tamil Nadu” was sufficient to bring the desired outcome, and the Thiruparankundram matter could be settled within the state and does not need to be escalated to the national level.
“Various Hindu organisations in TN were already working on the matter and I think the issue can be resolved on the basis of Hindus’ strength in TN,” Bhagwat said. Talking to a news agency, DMK organisation secretary RS Bharathi on Thursday said the state is the land of Dravidian stalwarts like ‘Periyar’ E V Ramasamy, C N Annadurai, K Kamaraj and ‘Kalaignar’ M Karunanidhi, and RSS could not do anything in TN for the last 100 years. He alleged that the right-wing outfit thinks that “riot” would break out on the Karthigai deepam issue, but the people of TN will not allow it.
In 1971, an attempt was made by rivals to do politics to get mileage by invoking the name of Lord Ram. That strategy did not work and the DMK alliance secured a huge win, Bharathi pointed out. “The same coalition of DMK and Congress is intact now too. History will repeat itself and the DMK alliance will get a huge victory in 2026; repeating 1971.”
People themselves have become campaigners for harmony in the issue, the DMK leader said, and slammed the judgment of Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court over lighting of the Karthigai deepam.
(With inputs from PTI)