Lok Sabha row over lamp-lighting at Tamil Nadu hilltop temple

The issue of lighting of a traditional lamp at a hilltop temple near Madurai rocked the Lok Sabha on Friday, with DMK leader TR Baalu accusing the BJP of trying to “ignite” communal tensions in Tamil Nadu and Union Minister L Murugan hitting back at the Tamil Nadu Government for “denying the right to worship”.

DMK members stormed the Well of the Lok Sabha and tried to raise the issue of the lighting of the ‘Karthigai Deepam’ at the stone lamp pillar on the Tirrupparankundram hillock near Madurai and forced the adjournment of the Question Hour.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Baalu accused the BJP of trying to “ignite” communal tension in Tamil Nadu and claimed that the Madras High Court judge, who permitted lighting of the lamp at the stone lamp pillar ‘Deepathoon’ on the Tirrupparankundram hillock, owed allegiance to a particular ideology.

“Who should light the deepam on the hill? Whether the Hindu Religious Endowment Board representative or some miscreants who have got a judgement from a Madras High Court’s judge?” asked Baalu.

Baalu’s reference to the high court judge’s ideology drew a sharp riposte from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who asserted that the DMK leader cannot cast aspersions on the judiciary and urged the chair to delete the remarks.

Hitting out at the DMK, BJP leader and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs L Murugan accused the Tamil Nadu Government of denying the right to worship to devotees at the Arulmighu Subramaniya Swamy Temple.

As Murugan was speaking, some DMK members walked up to the seat of Rijiju, prompting TDP member Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the chair, to appeal to protesting members to confine themselves to the Well.