Seeman hits out at DMK for igniting Thirupparankundram row

Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief Seeman on Saturday alleged that the DMK was responsible for creating and sustaining the controversy over lighting the deepam at Thirupparankundram for electoral gains.

Mr. Seeman blamed the Tamil Nadu police for the escalation of the issue, claiming that a long-standing practice was turned into a problem only recently. Referring to recent RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments on taking forward the Thirupparankundram issue, he accused the RSS and the BJP of using religion and caste as political tools.

He questioned the sudden expression of devotion towards Lord Murugan. “If they truly cared, why did they not light the deepam last year? With elections two months away, they have begun their theatrics,” he said and added that Hindu deities had been appropriated and recast to suit political narratives. Both the DMK and the BJP were seeking to benefit by polarising voters, he alleged while speaking to media persons on the side lines of the State-level consultation meet of the party’s students’ wing held in Tiruchi.

Mr. Seeman accused the DMK and BJP of indulging in “electoral politics” rather than people-centric governance. Welfare schemes were announced only when elections neared, he said and questioned how Tamil Nadu, with a debt of nearly ₹10 lakh crore, had failed to implement a single universal welfare scheme benefiting all sections.

Criticising the Enforcement Directorate’s raids, he said they had not resulted in any concrete action. “ED raids stop the moment the person being raided sees Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he alleged and added that expecting the State government to act on ED findings was unrealistic.