Sanatan Dharma row: PM Modi's 'give befitting reply' message provocative, says Siddaramaiah

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah Thursday said it does not behove Prime Minister Narendra Modi to advise his ministers to give 'befitting reply' on the Sanatan Dharma row, he would like to remind him of what Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said to him in 2002 on rajdharma.

Prime Minister Modi reportedly spoke on both the Sanatan Dharma and the India versus Bharat controversies raging in the country -- in his meeting with the ministers before going for 20th ASEAN-India and 18th East Asia Summits. 

While PM Modi asked to exercise restraint on the India versus Bharat controversy, and he reportedly told his ministers to give befitting replies to the Sanatan row triggered by Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's statement that Sanatan is like dengue or malaria. 

The Karnataka chief minister said PM Modi's call is not only provocative but also anti-constitutional. "If someone does anything wrong, action must be taken against them as per the law. Prompting people to respond appropriately becomes a call to take the law into their own hands," Siddaramaiah tweeted.

"PM Modi is not just the leader of the BJP, he also sits on the constitutional post of Prime Minister. In such a case, his actions should be in accordance with the dignity and responsibilities of that position. It seems that Narendra Modi is still in his shelter of RSS. He seems to have forgotten that he is the Prime Minister of 140 crore people of this country. It is a worrisome development that many leaders of his own party and organization are calling for violence, provoked by such statements of the Prime Minister," Siddaramaiah added.

"Given the past behaviour of PM Modi, his current statements are not surprising. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself had expressed displeasure with Narendra Modi's behaviour as the Chief Minister during the Gujarat riots and had called him to follow the Rajdharma. I would like to remind Modi of late Vajpayee's words of wisdom," Siddaramaiah said.

Meanwhile, DMK MP A Raja has joined Udhayanidhi and said Udhayanidhi's statement was mild -- Sanatan should be compared with AIDS and leprosy -- diseases with social stigma.

Siddaramaiah invited flak on Thursday after he said he refused to enter a temple in Kerala after he was asked to remove his shirt. "Once, I went to a temple in Kerala, they asked me to take off my shirt and enter. I refused to enter the temple and told them that I would pray from outside. They did not ask everyone to take off their shirts, but just a few. This is an inhumane practice. Everyone is equal before god," said Siddaramaiah.