"Statement is unfortunate, should be condemned": BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain on 'Sanatana Dharma' row 

New Delhi [India], September 3 (ANI): Condemning the DMK leader and minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's remark equating Sanatan Dharma with "mosquitoes, dengue, malaria and corona", BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain has said that it is unfortunate and should be condemned.
“MK Stalin is a strong pillar of the INDIA alliance and his son is making such remarks. Congress and other INDIA alliance members should make their stand clear on whether they are making an alliance to link Sanatan Dharma with dengue, malaria. The statement is unfortunate and it should be condemned,” Shahnawaz Hussain told ANI.
Addressing a conference in Chennai on Saturday, the minister for Sports and Youth Affairs in the Tamil Nadu government railed against Sanatan Dharma, saying, "Few things cannot be opposed, they should only be abolished. We can't oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or corona, we have to eradicate them. In the same way, we have to eradicate Sanatana (Sanatan Dharma). Rather than merely opposing Sanatana, it should be eradicated."
Earlier, BJP Tamil Nadu Chief K Annamalai took to his official handle on X to post, "The only resolve that the Gopalapuram Family has is to accumulate wealth beyond the State GDP. Thiru @Udhaystalin, you, your father, or his or your idealogue have a bought-out idea from Christian missionaries & the idea of those missionaries was to cultivate ******* like you to parrot their malicious ideology."
Echoing his sentiments, the BJP's IT cell head, Amit Malviya, said, the DMK minister was calling for "genocide of 80 per cent of the population of Bharat".
"Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamilnadu CM MK Stalin, and a minister in the DMK Govt has linked Sanatana Dharma to malaria and dengue… He is of the opinion that it must be eradicated and not merely opposed. In short, he is calling for genocide of 80% population of Bharat, who follow Sanatan Dharma," Malviya posted on X.
"(The) DMK is a prominent member of the Opposition block and a long-standing ally of the Congress. Is this what was agreed in the Mumbai meet?" the BJP leader asked.
Significantly, the Congress is a partner of the DMK in the ruling alliance in Tamil Nadu. (ANI)