Union finance minister condemns TN for preventing people from watching live telecast of Ram temple inauguration | India News

CHENNAI: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman reacted strongly on Sunday to a report in a Tamil newspaper that the Tamil Nadu government had banned special poojas in temples in the state managed by the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments department during the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on Monday. HR and CE minister P K Sekar Babu, who is attending the DMK youth conference in Salem, told TOI, “There is no such action.”
Later, minister Sekar Babu said on X, “Rumours are being circulated to divert attention from the DMK youth wing conference underway in Salem.There is no ban on conducting special poojas in the name of Lord Ram or giving Annadhanams. It is sad that a person like Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who holds a high position, is spreading such intentional, untruthful news.”
Earlier, Nirmala Sitharman took to X to say, “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 minister is in Tamil Nadu on a two-day visit and planned to watch the consecration event live with “about a thousand people” under a makeshift pandal. The minister also alleged that the people erecting the pandal were being threatened by authorities. The minister visited the Eri Katha Ramar shrine in Madurantakam for the ‘swachhatha seva’ (temple cleaning ritual). She would then proceed to Kancheepuram and at 8am on Monday, she would watch the Ram temple consecration live with the public.
BJP state president K Annamalai too took to X, saying special pujas and charitable work would be organised in all the temples across the country. “The DMK government, which is engaged in anti-Hindu activities in the name of running a secular government, has banned special pujas and food offerings in Tamil Nadu temples. What right does the DMK government have to interfere in temple practices?” he said in a post on X. He condemned the Tamil Nadu police for “preventing organisers” from making arrangements for the live telecast of the inauguration of the temple.