Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman alleges Tamil Nadu government has 'barred' puja in temples for Shri Ram; state dismisses claim

Chennai: Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday accused MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government of banning the live telecast of the Ram Temple programmes scheduled tomorrow. She also said the state police were stopping private temples from organising events commemorating the consecration ceremony of the temple in Ayodhya. Hitting back at the politician, the Tamil Nadu government said the BJP is propagating erroneous information to divert people's attention from the DMK Youth Conference in Salem.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman (Bloomberg)

"TN govt has banned watching live telecast of #AyodhaRamMandir programmes of 22 Jan 24. In TN there are over 200 temples for Shri Ram. In HR&CE managed temples no puja/bhajan/prasadam/annadanam in the name of Shri Ram is allowed. Police are stopping privately held temples also from organising events. They are threatening organisers that they will rip off pandals. Strongly condemn this anti-Hindu, hateful action," Sitharaman wrote on X.

"TN govt is unofficially claiming law and order issues to justify the live telecast ban. False and fake narrative! There were no L&O issues on the day of #Ayodhya verdict. Not even the day when PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation, in any part of the country. The groundswell and the voluntary participation of people to celebrate #ShriRam in TN has rattled the anti-Hindu #DMK," she added.