Nirmala Sitharaman alleges TN govt has 'barred' puja in temples for Shri Ram; state dismisses claim
Chennai, Jan 21: Citing a Tamil daily's reportage, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday alleged that the Tamil Nadu government administered temples have barred puja for Lord Ram on the day of the consecration of the grand temple in Ayodhya, which was dismissed by the state as a false news with ulterior motives.
Sitharaman, in a post on X alleged: "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." The Union Minister tagged the Tamil newspaper's report in this regard.
Reacting to the allegation, Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister, P K Sekar Babu said there is no such ban. In temples in Tamil Nadu, the HR & CE Department has not imposed any kind of ban for conduct of puja for Lord Ram. Also, there is no bar to distribute 'Annadhanam' and 'Prasadam.'
"A rumour is being disseminated to divert people's attention from the DMK's youth wing conference, underway now at Salem," he said in a social media post.
Further, Sekar Babu dubbed the reportage as completely false and had ulterior motives. He said it was regrettable that Sitharaman, who holds a high office, was circulating such fake news.
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Remarks against PM Modi: SC stays proceedings against Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed proceedings before a trial court against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a defamation case lodged against him for his alleged "scorpion on Shivling" remarks targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan issued notice to the Delhi government and the complainant in the case.
The notice is returnable in four weeks.
Tharoor has moved the top court against Delhi High Court order which refused to quash defamation proceedings against him on August 29.
The Congress leader had sought setting aside of the trial court's April 27, 2019 order summoning him as an accused in the criminal defamation complaint filed by Rajiv Babbar as also the November 2, 2018 complaint.
The criminal complaint was filed against Tharoor in the trial court by Babbar, who claimed that his religious sentiments were hurt by the Congress leader's statement.
In October 2018, Tharoor had claimed that an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader had compared Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling".
The Congress leader had said it was an "extraordinarily striking metaphor".
