Inflaming the Sanatan controversy once more on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin claimed that President Droupadi Murmu was not invited to the new Parliament building but rather some ‘Hindi actors’ since Murmu is a member of a tribal clan and a widow. “This is what we call Sanatan Dharma,” Udhayanidhi remarked, according to news agency, following his comparison of Sanatan Dharma to dengue and malaria sparked a significant political scandal and drew criticism from Prime Minister Modi. Chief Minister Stalin of Tamil Nadu warned DMK members to stay out of the Sanatan dispute as the opposition INDIA alliance distanced themselves from it.
Udhayanidhi had previously claimed that Droupadi Murmu’s example had been used to justify her exclusion from the new Parliament building’s opening. His Sanatan like dengue, malaria comment was against caste-based society and not against Hindu religion, he asserted. Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai at that time cornered the DMK asking why then the party did not support Droupadi Murmu’s candidature for the President post.
Rahul Gandhi too raised the issue of Droupadi Murmu’s absence in the new Parliament building as he spoke on women’s reservation bill. “This is quite a nice building, nice peacock, nice peacock feathers on the ground. Nice peacock feathers in the chair. It’s a nice, tasteful building. But frankly, I would have liked to see the President of India in this process. The President of India is a woman, she represents the tribal community, and it would have been befitting to have her visible in this transfer from one House to another,” Rahul Gandhi said.
On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, the functioning of Parliament shifted from the old building to the new. Several actors on Tuesday visited the new Parliament building.
