Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin has condemned the remarks made by PM Modi about the state’s temples. He said, “I categorically deny this allegation and convey my strong condemnation to the Prime Minister.” He further demanded to know how the PM, who holds such a high and responsible position in the country, could have made these wrong allegations.
PM Modi at a recent speech in Telangana, had stated, “In south India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, the state government is claiming ownership of temples and their wealth is being swindled and looted. But they won’t touch the places of worship of minorities – they won’t bring them under the government policies.”
Speaking at the Vallalar bicentennial celebration on October 6, the Tamil Nadu CM went on to list out the welfare initiatives that had been taken including the consecration of over 1000 temples and reclamation of temple land worth over Rs 3500 crore. He asked Modi whether these were signs of wrongdoing. “Work is on, at a cost of Rs 100 crore, to refurbish 112 historic temples that are 1,000-year-old,” he added. As part of the 2023 agenda, the state would also renovate 5,078 temples – including 1,250 shrines in areas where SCs and STs live and 1,250 village temples.
Stalin went on to question why the PM was talking about the affairs of Tamil Nadu in another state and what was the compelling reason behind this. He felt that spirituality was being exploited for political gain and this strategy would not work in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP has stated numerous times that the state should not have control over the temples in Tamil Nadu. Post a series of changes in 1960, the temples were brought under state government control. Currently, the TN government has administrative control of over 46000 Hindi and Jain temples in the state.