TIRUVANNAMALAI: Taking a dig at people using spiritualism for political gains, Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Saturday said the DMK is not against spiritualism but opposed those who use spiritualism to divide people based on caste and religion.
He was addressing a gathering after inaugurating 91 projects executed at a cost of 70.3 crore, launching 246 new projects at a cost of 340.2 crore and disbursing welfare aid to 1.7 lakh beneficiaries at a cost of 693 crore in Tiruvannamalai district.
Stalin said he is of the strong opinion that spiritualism can never be a tool to divide people and those who attempt doing it cannot be spiritual leaders.
"We never run the party based on religion. Our party and our government will function by keeping people in the forefront. That is our Dravidian model of governance which ensures development of all departments, districts, professions and communities. The government could execute several exceptional schemes through the Hindu religious and charitable endowment department based on this basic principle," said Stalin.
He said people who use religion for political gains would not appreciate the good deeds of his government. "Because they are not spiritualists. They are hypocrites. They use the spiritual card for their political gains," he said.
To the critics questioning whether overseeing rituals at temples is the Dravidian model, he asserted that the model is to ensure uniform development of all departments. He recalled that the HR&CE Act was passed in 1925 during the regime of Justice Party, the parent party of the DMK, after pleas by spiritually inclined leaders.
Stalin said that his government would heed to the advice of intellectuals and execute their suggestions. "We must listen to only intellectuals. Several productive assignments are ahead of us. This is not poll time. This is the time devoted to serve the people. I don't care about people attempting to gain cheap publicity by spreading lies,” he said and called upon people to have a similar bent of mind.
