MK Stalin government ‘banned’ Ayodhya Temple live telecast in Tamil Nadu: Nirmala Sitharaman

Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday accused the MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government of banning the live telecast of the Ram Temple programmes scheduled tomorrow.

She also said the state police were stopping private temples from organising events commemorating the consecration ceremony of the temple in Ayodhya. Hitting back at the politician, the Tamil Nadu government said the BJP is propagating erroneous information to divert people’s attention from the DMK Youth Conference in Salem.

“TN govt has banned watching live telecast of #AyodhaRamMandir programmes of 22 Jan 24. In TN there are over 200 temples for Shri Ram. In HR&CE managed temples no puja/bhajan/prasadam/annadanam in the name of Shri Ram is allowed. Police are stopping privately held temples also from organising events. They are threatening organisers that they will rip off pandals. Strongly condemn this anti-Hindu, hateful action,” Sitharaman wrote on X.

“TN govt is unofficially claiming law and order issues to justify the live telecast ban. False and fake narrative! There were no L&O issues on the day of #Ayodhya verdict. Not even the day when PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation, in any part of the country. The groundswell and the voluntary participation of people to celebrate #ShriRam in TN has rattled the anti-Hindu #DMK,” she added.

PK Sekar Babu, the minister of Hindu religious and charitable endowments, Tamil Nadu, condemned the remarks.

“Strongly condemn the spreading of false information in an attempt to divert people’s attention from the DMK Youth Conference in Salem. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department hasn’t imposed any limitations on devotees’ freedom to offer food, conduct poojas in the name of Shri Ram, or provide prasad in Tamil Nadu temples. It is unfortunate that people in office, like Union Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman and others, are purposefully propagating this erroneous information,” he said.

Last week, MK Stalin’s son and DMK leader, Udhayanidhi Stalin had said that his party wasn’t in agreement with a temple that was constructed after demolishing a mosque.

“We don’t have a problem with a temple coming up there. We are not in agreement with the construction of a temple after demolishing a mosque,” the DMK Youth Wing chief had said.

Hundreds of politicians, actors and other celebrities will attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Most of the major Opposition parties had turned down the invitation to the event saying the BJP was trying to exact political gains from a religious ceremony.