Tamil Nadu Congress chief KS Alagiri had made a hugely controversial statement by saying that anti-BJP parties believe that the Sanatana Dharma, which means Hinduism, should be destroyed along with defeating BJP. KS Alagiri said that it is a matter of pride for his party to be viewed as an indispensable force in any alliance that believes “Bharatiya Janata Party should lose and Sanatana Dharma should be destroyed”. Alagiri made these controversial comments quoting Lok Sabha MP Thol Thirumavalavan.
Speaking to Tamil channel Chanankyaa on the sidelines of the grand old party’s 137th formation day, Alagiri exuded confidence that any talk of a non-Congress alternative to the BJP would fizzle out, and Congress party will have to be part of any anti-BJP alliance.
Alagiri made the comments on the context of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president and Lok Sabha MP Thol Thirumavalavan’s recent appeal to Tamil Nadu CM and DMK leader M.K. Stalin to bring all political parties together to form an anti-BJP front. He had also urged the Congress party to talk to its former leaders who now leader various regional parties to bring them together, so that there is no split in anti-BJP votes.
TN Congress leader declares the sole purpose of the Congress alliance “To destroy the Sanatana Dharma and BJP” pic.twitter.com/Pmu5hoDrFz
— Vishwatma 🇮🇳 (@HLKodo) December 31, 2021
When asked about Thol. Thirumavalavan’s appeal to MK Stalin to spearhead a grand anti-BJP alliance, Alagiri said: “I have seen his statement… he complimented us. He stated that ‘…Bharatiya Janata Party should lose and Sanatana Dharma should be destroyed, and for that Congress should always be with us and we should be with the Congress’.”
Thirumavalavan has often railed against Sanatana Dharma, and accused the BJP of trying to replace the Constitution with it. He had alleged that BJP wants to further Sanatan Dharma in the country, and has made several defamatory comments against the religion. He had once said that “Sanatan is worse than alcohol”, and had claimed that all women are considered as prostitutes in Sanatan Dharma. He had said that Hindu temples are places with ‘dirty idols’, and had said that upper-caste women go behind men of other castes as ‘their’ men do not have any ‘stuff’.
KS Alagiri further added that Thirumavalavan disagreed with Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s idea of an alternative front that seems to exclude Congress. “Even the chief minister [Stalin] has backed Thirumavalavan’s policy,” he noted.
The state Congress chief also claimed that parties such as NCP and the Shiv Sena, along with the Left, had rejected Mamata Banerjee’s plans.
As the reporter interrupted with a query on how the Congress was comfortable in forming an alliance with Shiv Sena, a party that had deep Hindutva roots, Alagiri claimed that Shiva Sena had changed its stance. “Shiv Sena stands for ‘Hindu’ and BJP for Hindutva,” he remarked.” In fact, the Shiv Sena was concerned and demanded that the Ayodhya Ram temple construction should not inconvenience any community, he added.
