MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Friday urged the Tamil Nadu government to drop TVS Motor Company chairman Venu Srinivasan’s name from the FIR relating to idol thefts from temples.
In a statement issued in Chennai, Mr. Vaiko said dragging the name of Mr. Srinivasan into the investigations related to idol theft was unpardonable and an attempt to tarnish the image of a person who had not done anything wrong.
“I am shocked to hear that his name is being dragged into the case of idol theft and that he has applied for anticipatory bail,” Mr. Vaiko said.
The MDMK leader said the TVS Group had provided livelihood to lakhs of people in Tamil Nadu.
“Mr. Srinivasan has provided a new life to 30 lakh people in 4,000 villages in the State. He has provided funds to people in rural areas in neighbouring States to earn their livelihood by helping them set up their own small businesses, and has helped 1.68 lakh rural women to earn ₹680 crore income every year,” Mr. Vaiko said.
He added that Mr. Srinivasan with his own funds had helped renovate many temples in the State.
“In fact, both during the DMK and the AIADMK regimes, he was asked to be part of the temple Tiruppani Committees. It is because of his efforts that the Tiruppani and consecration functions were conducted in many temples.
To enhance harmony among different communities, he collected funds from all sections of societies for conducting the ‘t her ’ festival and ensured their participation,” he said.
Besides, the TVS chairman had conducted the consecration of the Kapaleeswarar temple as head of the Tiruppani Committee and had spent ₹70 lakh from his own funds, and also spent ₹25 crore for Tiruppani at the Ranganathaswamy temple, he said.
