On Tuesday (12 September), Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha spoke about DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s hate speech against Sanatan Dharma. In an interview with PTI, the AAP leader claimed that Stalin’s remark can’t be considered the official stand of the I.N.D.I. Alliance. While distancing from the remark, Chadha referred to Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who is also the son of Tamil Nadu Chief and DMK Supremo MK Stalin, as a “small leader”.
Remarks by some 'small' leader of any party can't be seen as official stand of INDIA: AAP's Raghav Chadha tells PTI on Sanatan Dharma row
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 12, 2023
Chadha said, “I am from Sanatan Dharma. I condemn and oppose such statements. Such kind of statements should not be made. One should stay away from making such remarks on any religion. We should respect all religions.”
He further argued, “Some leader from some party makes such remarks… it doesn’t mean it is the statement of the alliance. The alliance has been formed to raise bigger issues like price rise, and unemployment facing the country. The statement made by some small leader, while standing in a district in a state, is not the official stand of the alliance.”
Meanwhile, on the issue of names for the prime ministerial probables from the opposition alliance, Raghav Chadha ruled out Arvind Kejriwal from the equation saying, the first thing is that the AAP is not in the race.
He said, “We are a loyal soldier in this alliance. We are not in the race to become PM. We have many able administrators in our alliance. We have many competent people.”
Earlier in the day, a video of DMK’s Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy was doing rounds on social media in which the DMK Minister, an ally of AAP in the I.N.D.I. Alliance, asserted that the bloc was formed to fight the Sanatan Dharma.
In the viral video, DMK Minister K Ponmudy emphasised that there is no disagreement in the I.N.D.I. Alliance with respect to eradicating Sanatan Dharma. The Minister further claimed that all 26 parties in the opposition alliance are united to fight Sanatan Dharma and the opposition bloc was formed solely for this purpose.
