Nana Patole, the party’s Maharashtra chief, said on Sunday that the partner in the DMK-led ruling coalition in Tamil Nadu doesn’t believe in hurting any religious sentiments in an effort to steer the Congress away from the remarks made by DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin, who compared Sanatan Dharma to “mosquitoes, dengue, malaria, and corona.”
Addressing a conference in Chennai on Saturday, Udhayanidhi, the minister for Sports and Youth Affairs in the Tamil Nadu government, railed against Sanatan Dharma, saying, “Few things cannot be opposed, they should only be abolished. We can’t oppose Dengue, mosquitoes, Malaria, or Corona, we have to eradicate them. In the same way, we have to eradicate Sanatana (Sanatan Dharma). Rather than merely opposing Sanatana, it should be eradicated.”
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Patole invoked Dalit icon BR Ambedkar’s ‘Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava’ (all religions are the same) remark, saying, “Our stand is clear. The Congress neither comments nor believes in hurting anyone’s religious sentiments.”
“We can’t take the onus for someone else’s statement. But our position has been clearly articulated,” the Congress leader added.
Notably, the Congress and the DMK are also associates of the Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), the opposition coalition.