Chennai, Feb 26 (BPNS)

The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a political party that is part of the DMK alliance has come out against the HR&CE department of the state government conducting night long Sivaratri festival at Kapaleeswar temple.

VCK senior leader Vanniya Arasu in a statement on Friday night said that it was dangerous on the part of the state government to conduct religious propaganda.

He said that the HR&CE department even though is a separate department for the purpose of temple management should be confined to overseeing the system of management.  He asked whether the DMK government that has come to power by projecting secular credentials was taking such a positioning to please the RSS and BJP combine.

The senior leader of the VCK said that the DMK government cannot organize events for religious propaganda and added that this would give a wrong message to the people of Tamil Nadu.  He said that even the AIADMK government had shied away from celebrating whole night Sivaratri programme.

It may be noted that the HR&CE department of Tamil Nadu which is managing the Kapaleeswar temple has organized music, dance, and debates throughout the night and has advertised about the event.

VCK is a political party that is working for the upliftment of the Dalit communities and has been vocal in several issues. The party founder leader Thol Thirumavalavan is a Member of Parliament and has won as part of the DMK alliance. The open criticism by the VCK senior leader Vanniya Arasu will create a major discussion point in Tamil Nadu.