Madurai (TN): DMK youth wing leader and Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Wednesday alleged President Droupadi Murmu was not invited to the new Parliament building, during its inauguration earlier or now, as she was a widow and hailed from the tribal community and said "this is what we call Sanatana Dharma."

The Youth Welfare and Sports Development minister had earlier stoked a row with his anti-Sanatan Dharma remarks that led to a heated debate across the country, especially with the BJP targeting him over the issue.

Speaking at a party event here, he said Murmu was neither invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building a few months ago nor presently when it is hosting its first-ever session, a five-day special sitting where the women's reservation bill was passed today.

"Who is our first citizen-- the President. What is her name? Droupadi Murmu. She was not invited to the inaugural ceremony of the new Parliament building. This is what we call Sanatanam."

"Yesterday a female Hindi actor was taken to the new Parliament building but there was no permission for the president. Why? Because Droupadi Murmu is from a tribal community. Because she has lost her husband. This is what we call sanatana dharma," he added.

CM Stalin calls women's reservation bill 'poll gimmick'

DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday dubbed the Women's Reservation Bill in its current form a "poll gimmick" as it would come into force only after a delimitation exercise on the basis of a yet-to-be-held census.

The main opposition AIADMK welcomed the bill and stated that in Tamil Nadu the party had pioneered initiatives aimed at women empowerment.

Stalin stressed the importance of having a quota for women of the Backward Classes and also demanded that the Centre assure the people of Tamil Nadu and the whole of south India that the delimitation exercise would do no harm to the states that have managed to control their population.

"Delimitation is like a Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of Tamil Nadu and south India. The political conspiracy to lower the political representation of south India must be outmanoeuvred," he said.

In a statement here, Stalin referred to delimitation and said that the effort to betray a "politically vigilant Tamil Nadu" should be nipped in the bud.

Dubbing the Women's Bill a poll gimmick triggered by the prospect of electoral defeat, the DMK chief said it is a "strange trick" to adopt a bill now for something that is said to come into force in 2029 following a delimitation exercise on the basis of a yet-to-be-held census, for which there is also no guarantee on when it would be held.

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