CHENNAI: Hitting out at AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for criticising the State government over using temple funds to run colleges, Minister PK Sekarbabu on Thursday said the AIADMK leader has become a “mouthpiece” for the BJP, furthering the right-wing ideology. He accused Palaniswami of launching a false campaign against the DMK government and its welfare schemes and policies.
Educational institutions using temple funds is an age-old practice, dating back to the Chola period, the HR&CE Minister said, “What is wrong in building colleges?” he asked, questioning Palaniswami’s stance while speaking to the media on Thursday.
This practice continued from 1962 and CM Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK regime too used temple funds for constructing additional classrooms, Sekarbabu said, claiming that Palaniswami himself inaugurated such buildings. Yet, he is speaking in a manner intended to “appease the Sangh Parivar,” the minister said, responding to Palaniswami’s criticism of the DMK government for utilising temple funds to build colleges.
If Palaniswami calls running educational institutions using temple funds a ‘conspiracy’, what is his take on the contributions of AIADMK founder MGR and his successor J Jayalalithaa in establishing colleges and schools? Is he rejecting the stance of these late AIADMK leaders too, asked the minister.
The HR&CE department has established 25 schools, nine colleges and a polytechnic institute using temple funds. It has also set up 19 hospitals for public welfare through the same means. Several legislators, including AIADMK MLAs Amman K Arjunan and Rajan Chellappa, had appealed to the government during the Assembly session to construct educational institutions in their constituencies using temple funds, the minister added, taking a dig at Palaniswami, who was accompanied by Amman Arjunan when he made the controversial remark.
The minister said that the Leader of Opposition has turned into a “loudspeaker” amplifying the ideology of Hindutva forces, who are desperately trying to wrest control of temples from the government, the minister said, referring to the resolution passed in this regard at the Hindu Munnani-organised Madurai Murugan Manadu recently.
Calling the BJP a “malai pampu” (python), the minister said the AIADMK under Palaniswami’s leadership is becoming its prey and will soon be swallowed. “After 2026, we will have to search for the AIADMK,” he quipped.