Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin stoked the Sanatan controversy afresh on Wednesday as he said President Droupadi Murmu was not invited to the new Parliament building but some ‘Hindi actors’ were because Murmu is from a tribal community and a widow. “This is what we call Sanatan Dharma,” Udhayanidhi said, as reported by PTI, after his parallel between Sanatan Dharma and dengue, malaria triggered a major political controversy inviting flak from PM Modi himself. The opposition INDIA bloc distanced itself from the Sanatan controversy and Tamil Nadu chief minister Stalin cautioned DMK members to steer clear of the row.

Earlier too, Udhayanidhi cited Droupadi Murmu’s example and said she was not invited to the inauguration of the new Parliament building because she is a tribal. His Sanatan like dengue, malaria comment was against caste-based society and not against Hindu religion, he asserted. Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai at that time cornered the DMK asking why then the party did not support Droupadi Murmu’s candidature for the President post.

Rahul Gandhi too raised the issue of Droupadi Murmu’s absence in the new Parliament building as he spoke on women’s reservation bill. “This is quite a nice building, nice peacock, nice peacock feathers on the ground. Nice peacock feathers in the chair. It’s a nice, tasteful building. But frankly, I would have liked to see the President of India in this process. The President of India is a woman, she represents the tribal community, and it would have been befitting to have her visible in this transfer from one House to another,” Rahul Gandhi said.

On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, the functioning of Parliament shifted from the old building to the new. Several actors on Tuesday visited the new Parliament building.