CHENNAI: State Congress party’s floor leader K Selvaperunthagai urged the TN government to do away with the title ‘Hindu’ from the name of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department on Thursday.

He claimed that the word ‘Hindu’ is leading to politicise the activities of the department. He suggested the terminology 'Hindu' could be replaced with either ‘Temples’ or ‘Tamil Nadu’.

Taking part in the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s speech, the Sriperumbudur MLA said that there are certain forces trying to politicise using the word ‘Hindu’ in the department’s name. Hence, it is ideal to replace ‘Hindu’ with ‘Temples’ or ‘Tamil Nadu.’

He wanted the department to be called the Temples Charitable Endowments Department or Tamil Nadu Charitable Endowments Department. The term ‘Hindu’ is not found anywhere in Tamil literature, and Britishers gave the name, he added.

He also hit out at the Union Government for trying to ‘steal’ the universities and education institutions established by the State government by introducing new norms and rules. He took a dig at Governor RN Ravi for causing trouble to the state government and said instead of facilitating the State government’s smooth administration, he has been wrestling with it. “The Governor misunderstood the calm look of the CM. He (CM Stalin) would turn into a storm to safeguard the State’s rights,” the TNCC chief said.