DMK MP protests Bhoomi Pooja by only a Hindu priest

Chennai, Jul 17 (IANS): Lok Sabha member from Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri constituency and DMK leader, S. Senthilkumar has objected to the ‘Bhoomi Pooja’ of a road project by a Hindu priest, and scolded the officials for inviting only a Hindu priest.

The MP shouted at an official, and sought to know why the ‘Imam’ and Christian priest were not present.

He also asked for the presence of atheist leaders as well as Dravidar Kazhagam representatives.

“Do you have instructions or not that the government functions should not be held like this. Are you aware or not?” he asked an official.

The MP also urged the authorities present to clean everything — presumably the pooja materials that the Hindu priest had brought for the Bhoomi Pooja on Saturday.

The official at whom the MP shouted was identified as the Executive Engineer of Public Works Department. The DMK leader also later shared a short video of the episode in his Twitter handle.

He was heard saying: “Trying to keep my cool… at times, they make me lose my patience.”

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has objected to the MP’s behaviour.

The party’s Tamil Nadu unit vice president Narayanan Thirupathy questioned Senthilkumar whether he would have reacted in the same manner had an Imam been present, and would have conducted rituals according to the Muslim belief.

The BJP leader called for the MP to apologise to the public for “disrespecting people’s faith”.

In a tweet, the BJP leader wrote: “I strongly condemned@DrSenthil_MDRD for Hindu beliefs and rituals at a workplace where poojas were about to be performed by the workers to their beliefs. His abuse and behavior have once confirmed that @arivalayam is an anti -Hindu party.”