Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched a fierce and pointed attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party during his visit to Madurai, accusing the party of deliberately converting the sacred Karthigai Deepam festival at Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple into a tool for communal polarisation and electoral gain. He charged that while the DMK government is solely focused on accelerating development and welfare schemes across the state, certain opposition elements are indulging in malicious propaganda and divisive politics to mislead the public.

Drawing a striking parallel with Tamil literary history, Stalin invoked the legendary heroine Kannagi from Silappathikaram, stating that Madurai remains the land where injustice is challenged without fear. He firmly asserted that the Karthigai Deepam was lit at its traditional hilltop location in complete accordance with agama rules and long-standing customs, with temple priests and thousands of local devotees participating peacefully in the ritual before returning home content.

Rejecting allegations of being anti-Hindu or anti-spiritual, the Chief Minister highlighted his government’s exemplary record of conducting Kumbabishekam ceremonies in more than 3,000 temples since assuming office in 2021. He declared that genuine spirituality stands for peace, harmony, and unity, and condemned the manufactured controversy as nothing but cheap politics aimed at creating divisions where none exist.

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Stalin further accused the Union government of systematically obstructing Tamil Nadu’s progress by rejecting the Madurai Metro Rail project and indefinitely delaying the AIIMS hospital, suggesting that right-wing forces are deliberately raising baseless religious issues to distract from these developmental failures and derail the state’s growth trajectory.

With multiple cases pending before the Supreme Court and the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, including a contempt petition and an appeal against the lighting of the Deepam, the legal and political confrontation over Thiruparankundram is set to escalate further in the coming weeks.

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