Atheist Karunanidhi under fire for TTD priests chanting Vedic hymns at his house

Priests from the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam visited DMK president M Karunanidhi at his Gopalpuram residence on Wednesday, which led to a controversy. They wanted the rights to air the Telugu version of the TV series on Saint Ramanuja that Karunanidhi has written. The serial is currently running on his TV channel Kalaignar TV.

However, the priests also chanted Vedic hymns according to their tradition and a video of this went viral online, which drew flak. However, Karunanidhi​'s partymen have come to his defense. One of his partymen told The New Indian Express that the DMK leader respects the beliefs of others and he did not want to hurt their sentiments. Stopping them from reciting the mantras would be rude and hence he let them do so as they were his guests, the partymen added. 

Watch the video here:

The DMK party has been led by CN Annadurai and M Karunanidhi, who see themselves as the disciples of atheist Periyar. In an interview to The Hindu in 2015, DMK leader Karunanidhi had stated, "Even though I am an atheist, I very well know that some around me and in the DMK aren’t totally committed to that ideology. I never impose my party’s ideas, especially those relating to divinity, on others. Not even on members of my family." 

The DMK leader's son MK Stalin also recently visited some temples in Tamil Nadu when he was on his Namukku Naame campaign. He was criticised for this move.