Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tamil Nadu president L. Murugan on Thursday questioned why DMK president M.K. Stalin had not condemned ‘Karuppar Kootam’, the YouTube channel accused of denigrating Kanda Sashti Kavasam and Lord Muruga.
“Does Mr. Stalin have any links with Karuppar Kootam? He should explain to the people. Why has he not condemned the denigration of Lord Muruga by the group yet? The Hindu community will not pardon him,” Mr. Murugan charged.
Addressing a press conference after members of various parties joined the BJP, Mr. Murugan asked whether Mr. Stalin would not speak up if something happens against Hindus.
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When asked about DMK organisation secretary R.S. Bharathi’s stand that his condemnation on the incident was Mr. Stalin’s condemnation, Mr. Murugan asked, “Why is Stalin not commenting? Who is stopping him from speaking up?”
He said Mr. Stalin, who was a former Deputy Chief Minister, did not know anything about communal reservation.
“He doesn’t even know that the reservation percentage changes from State to State based on population. For T.N., the SC/ST reservation must be 20%. I am asking him — when the DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu, what were they doing about this?” he said.
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Mr. Murugan said the DMK does not have any right to talk about social justice.
On the issue of OBC reservation in all-India quota medical seats, Mr. Murugan said the case was in the Supreme Court, and the BJP was in favour of providing reservation for OBCs.
He claimed the BJP was the only party with the maximum number of SC/ST MPs in India. "Our party has a lot of concern for the SC/STs. In the case in the Supreme Court on OBC reservation, our party's stand is clear. We will fully back and stand behind them in ensuring reservation for them," he said.
Mr. Murugan also claimed that the Centre has provided a lot of funds to Tamil Nadu, contrary to what Mr. Stalin claims. “During the pandemic period alone, the Centre has given more than ₹30,000 crore to Tamil Nadu. But Stalin is always complaining,” he said.