Mumbai, May 12 (IANS) NCP-SP leader Fahad Ahmad on Tuesday criticised the Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Udhayanidhi Stalin, over his anti-Sanatan remark, claiming the statement to be “childish and inappropriate”.

The former Tamil Nadu Deputy CM kicked up a fresh row as he called for the eradication of Sanatan in the presence of the newly elected Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.

Talking to IANS, Ahmad said, “This is a very childish statement. Making such remarks about any religion is, I think, completely inappropriate and immature from Udhayanidhi Stalin.”

He further termed the statement as “shameful”.

The NCP-SP leader congratulated the Congress for breaking its alliance with DMK.

Notably, Congress broke up from the DMK-led alliance and extended support to Vijay-led TVK in order to help the latter reach the majority mark in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Ahmad highlighted that Congress is an ally of the NCP-SP in the INDIA bloc and, due to such statements from the DMK, the Congress also had to face “uncomfortable situations”.

He said: “Our Constitution allows every religion to follow its practices, and moreover, the majority of the country’s population follows Hinduism.”

He said that if somebody wants to become a “social reformer” and thinks that there are any issues in the Hindu religion, then he or she must work through “social reforms”.

Similarly, Ahmad asserted that if somebody feels that there are problems within the Muslim religion, then the path of “social reform” can also be followed.

“One cannot criticise a religion like this that often,” he asserted.

The NCP-SP leader reiterated that Udhayanidhi Stalin’s statement is “extremely childish” and one should refrain from making such remarks.

He further said: “The people of Tamil Nadu are extremely educated; they too would not expect such remarks from their Leader of Opposition.”

Reacting to the issue, BJP leader Nazia Elahi Khan said, “The people of Tamil Nadu have given an answer (to the DMK) by giving their mandate to Vijay. If they (DMK) still don’t get it, then I think they will get it after complete destruction.”

She added that political fight, political vendetta and even political revenge are acceptable, but “fighting with Lord Ram is not”.

“This will not be accepted by Lord Ram as well as his devotees. You fight with the political party, you don’t fight with Sanatan,” she asserted.

–IANS

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