CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president and Sriperumbudur MLA K Selvaperunthagai was reportedly denied respect commensurate to an elected representative and was prevented from participating closely in the consecration of the Vallakottai Murugan temple, located in his constituency, on Monday.
When reporters asked him about the incident, Selvaperunthagai, the first Scheduled Caste leader to become TNCC president in 35 years, said, “It is a 2,000-year-old problem that cannot be solved overnight,” without explicitly stating that he was discriminated based on caste.
He was initially stopped from climbing the vimana of the temple, where the consecration rituals happened, by officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department.
He had to wait and reason with the officials to climb. Former Telangana Governor and former state president of BJP, Tamilisai Soundararajan, had, however, climbed the vimana before Selvaperunthagai and was present throughout the ritual.
After climbing, the waving of the flag when holy water was poured on the kalasam (pot) was done by an HR&CE official, although it is customary to offer the privilege to an elected representative present, party sources contended.
Selvaperunthagai told reporters that he was just disappointed with the conduct of a few officials. He said he did not want the incident to bring disrepute to the good governance of Chief Minister M K Stalin or HR&CE Minister P K Sekarbabu, who has been running the department better than the “bhakti movement”.
Reacting to the incident on X, Villupuram MP and VCK general secretary D Ravikumar urged the CM to order a probe. He said, if some officials indeed stopped the TNCC president because of his caste, they should be booked under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. “Firm action is needed to eradicate the untouchability in worship prevailing in HR&CE temples,” he said.