Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa thanked Harish Rawat, her Uttarakhand counterpart on Friday for installing the statue of Thiruvalluvar, the 3rd BCE Tamil sage, in the premises of Mela Bhavan in Haridwar.
The statue which was taken from Kanyakumari in south to Uttarakhand under the Thiruvalluvar Ganga Payanam (Tamil for journey) created a big controversy in Tamil Nadu when the former BJP Tarun Vijay who led the show abandoned the statue when the monks at Haridwar opposed the move to instal the same on the banks of Ganga.
The visuals of the Thiruvalluvar statue lying abandoned at Haridwar had created resentment among the people in Tamil Nadu forcing Jayalalithaa to write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Various political party leaders like Vaiko (MDMK), R Mutharasan (CPI) and Thirumavalavan (VCK) came out in the open lambasting the BJP for its “communal politics” and insulting the Tamil icon Thiruvalluvar.
“The issue of the installation of the statue of poet Thiruvalluvar had been causing considerable disquiet in Tamil Nadu. I am grateful that you have responded speedily and positively to the outpouring of sentiments by the people of Tamil Nadu on this sensitive issue. I am happy to learn that you have arranged for the installation of the statue in the premises of Mela Bhavan in Haridwar,” said Jayalalithaa in her letter. Interestingly, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has not mentioned an single word about Tarun Vijay, the self-styled Thiruvalluvar propagandist.
The Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP is also upset over the “high handed” approach of Tarun Vijay vis-à-vis the Thiruvalluvar statue issue. “He tried to get some cheap publicity for himself through Thiruvalluvar. What has happened is that he has embarrassed the BJP in TN,” said Kattumannarkoil Kannan, BJP’s national council member.