The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious Endowment Minister PK Sekar Babu said that the Tamil Nadu government has not imposed any restrictions on devotees to perform puja in the name of Ram or give alms in temples in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government also issued a press release denying the allegations of ban on any pujas or Annadhanam.
Sekar Babu denied allegations made by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on her X account. Sekar Babu also shared a statement on the microblogging platform X, condemning the spread of "false information" and called it an attempt to divert people's attention from the DMK Conference in Salem.
He further added that it is unfortunate that "people in office like Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and others, are purposefully propagating this erroneous information."
The finance minister was quick to respond to this and replied to the Tamil Nadu minister's X thread saying, "Mr. Sekar Babu, in response to your tweet, people are presenting examples with data/evidence. It is your duty to put a full stop to the news coming from all over Tamil Nadu about the disruptions caused in the worship practices of Hindus by making continuous changes."
She added in another tweet in the same thread, "Furthermore, in the arrangements at small private temples, police personnel are causing unnecessary attacks. Therefore, Minister, as the head of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, you should step forward to protect the fundamental rights of Hindus. If not, order your officials to immediately stop causing disruptions and to cooperate with the devotees."
The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday issued a press release denying the allegations of ban on any pujas or Annadhanam. The state government said that false information is given by the union minister quoting a newspaper report. The release also said that legal action will be taken against paper for publishing wrong news. However, the press release by the state government was silent on allegations of ban on live telecast of Ayodha Ram Mandir programmes to be held on January 22.
Sitharaman had shared a Tamil newspaper clipping on her X account and alleged that the Tamil Nadu government has banned watching live telecast of Ayodha Ram Mandir programmes to be held on January 22. Taking to the microblogging platform, she slammed the Chief Minister MK Stalin led DMK government in Tamil Nadu and called this action "anti-Hindu" and "hateful".
In her tweet, the finance minister has claimed that in HR and CE managed temples no puja, nhajan, prasadam and annadanam is allowed in the name of Lord Ram. She further alleged that the Police are stopping privately held temples from organising events and threatening organisers that they will rip off pandals.