A fresh controversy has erupted in South politics after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s remarks on Sanatana Dharma sparked debates, drawing parallels with Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s controversial comments from 2023.
Speaking at the 92nd Sivagiri Pilgrimage Conference in Varkala, Kerala, on Tuesday this week, Vijayan warned against associating social reformer and prominent saint Sree Narayana Guru with Sanatana Dharma. He emphasized that Narayana Guru had rejected caste-based systems and worked towards reforming Sanatana Dharma for a new era.
“Sree Narayana Guru was never a propagator or practitioner of Sanatana Dharma. Instead, he was someone who tried to reconstruct it for the modern age,” Vijayan said.
The controversy has drawn comparisons to Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks last year, where he likened Sanatana Dharma to oppressive practices and called for its eradication, triggering a major political row.
Kerala CM’s comments faced sharp criticism not only from the BJP but also from Congress, despite their alliance in the INDIA bloc. In Kerala, communists (the left) and the Congress are traditional political rivals.
Following the remarks, senior BJP leader V. Muraleedharan accused Vijayan of insulting the holy land of Sivagiri and its followers. He alleged that the remarks were a continuation of Udhayanidhi Stalin’s earlier statements against Sanatana Dharma. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) also joined in condemning the Chief Minister’s comments, accusing him of misrepresenting Sree Narayana Guru’s teachings. The BJP uses the Sanatana Dharma remark of the Kerala Chief Minister as an electoral tool to gain trust among the Hindu voters in Kerala.
This marks the second major political storm in the South over Sanatana Dharma, raising questions about its portrayal of religious sentiments.
The next Kerala assembly election is expected to be held in April 2026.
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