Chennai, Apr 17 (PTI) Tamil Nadu's main opposition AIADMK and its ally the BJP on Thursday slammed Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department Minister P K Sekar Babu for the use of the image of a temple tower when he paid floral tributes at the memorial of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

Sekar Babu, before moving the demand for grant for his HR and CE department (2025-26) in the Assembly, paid tributes at the samadhi of Karunanidhi and DMK founder C N Annadurai as well on the Marina beachfront.

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The poster of a temple tower, which is also the official symbol of the government of Tamil Nadu, was placed on Karunanidhi's memorial.

Taking strong objection to it, former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai said the memorial was decorated as if it was a temple tower and he hit out at the minister for "crossing the limits, and hurting the beliefs of Hindus." If insulting Hindu beliefs was continued, people would teach a fitting lesson to them, he said.

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The AIADMK wondered if anyone with "basic sense" would place a temple tower symbol on a samadhi, which is the resting place of the dead. It slammed the minister for trivializing the sentiments of crores of people just to prove his loyalty to his party chief, M K Stalin, also the chief minister.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)