E-Paper
Temple fund misused, says EPS, slugfest rages
In Tamil Nadu, a dispute arose as AIADMK's Palaniswami accused the DMK of misusing temple funds for colleges, prompting a strong rebuttal from DMK's Sekar Babu.
A war of words erupted in Tamil Nadu between the DMK and AIADMK after leader of opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami alleged the DMK-led state government of misusing temple funds managed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department to construct colleges.
Addressing an election campaign on Tuesday, Palaniswami said, “Devotees donate money to temples managed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department for their worship. How is it right to divert that money to build colleges? Can’t the government build colleges using its own funds? When we governed the state, we established so many colleges using funds generated by the government. You are deliberately using temple funds through the HR&CE department. I’m not saying anything against education. I’m only saying that the government should use its own funds to construct educational institutions.”
Hitting back at the AIADMK general secretary, Tamil Nadu Hindu religious and charitable endowments minister PK Sekar Babu on Wednesday said that Palaniswami is unaware of history and is “drowned in the darkness of ignorance”.
“He is unaware of history. He should know the evolution of the HR&CE department. He should read history and learn how successive chief ministers in Tamil Nadu since the 1950s have used temple funds to establish colleges. AIADMK alliance is like a murky pond; you cannot catch fish in it. DMK alliance, on the other hand, is flowing like a clear river,” Sekar Babu said.
