Karunanidhi

New Delhi, Sept. 18: The BJP today sought legal action against M. Karunanidhi for insulting Hindu sentiment and asked the Congress to clarify if it endorsed his remarks on Ram.

There was no such demand in the statement it released today but spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said as much when asked why his party was going soft on the DMK chief.

“His remarks are more offensive than the affidavit. We think that invites legal provisions as the affidavit did. We demand legal action against him too,” he said.

Karunanidhi had on Sunday said at a public meeting: “Some say there was a person over 17 lakh years ago. His name was Ram. Do not touch the bridge constructed by him. Who is this Ram? From which engineering college did he graduate? Is there any proof of this?”

Javadekar said the BJP strongly condemned Karunanidhi’s “direct affront” to the Hindu faith with his sarcasm about Ram’s degree.

The new political axis with ADMK chief Jayalalithaa has emboldened the BJP to come out openly against Karunanidhi who had dubbed Ram a “figment of imagination”.

So far, the BJP has been extremely cautious about criticising the DMK. Even on Adams Bridge or “Ram setu”, it targeted the Congress leadership instead of key player T.R. Baalu, who too termed Ram and the Ramayan mythological.

But yesterday, another BJP spokesperson, Ravi Shankar Prasad, asked if Karunanidhi would make such derogatory comments about gods and icons of other religions.

“He will not. This explains the hypocritical nature of secular politics in our country,” Prasad said.

The BJP has often seen the DMK as a potential ally though it has deserted the NDA for the UPA. But now it seems to have reconciled itself to aligning with the ADMK as many of Jayalalithaa’s views suit its ideology.