Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin was on Friday dismissive of his Andhra Pradesh counterpart and actor Pawan Kalyan’s warning that attempting to wipe out Sanatan Dharma would result in getting wiped out.

“Let’s wait and see,” was Udhayanidhi’s response with a smile to Pawan rekindling the row over Sanatan Dharma following the DMK leader’s earlier remark equating Sanatan with coronavirus, dengue and malaria, which have to be eradicated and not merely opposed.

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In the wake of the raging controversy over alleged adulteration in the ghee used for preparing the iconic laddoo of Tirupati, Pawan, who is the president of the Jan Sena, had taken a strident Hindutva stand demanding a Sanatan Dharma Rakshana Board at the national and state levels through necessary legislation to manage Hindu temples.

Clad in saffron, the AP Deputy Chief Minister, after atoning for the alleged adulteration in the laddoo prasadam at Tirumala, said: “Never say that Sanatan Dharma is like a virus which could be destroyed. From the feet of Lord Balaji, let me tell you that if any attempt is made to wipe out Sanatan Dharma you will be wiped out.”

Initially attempting to speak in Tamil, so that his message could reach the Tamils, he later switched over to Telugu and recited a poem, asking his fans to translate it into Tamil and share it widely.

Though he refrained from naming anyone, it was obvious that he was targeting his ire at Udhayanidhi for his remark made in September 2023 at the Sanatan Eradication Conference organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artistes Association of the CPM.

The DMK was swift in defending Udhayanidhi. “In Tamil Nadu, those advocating Ssanatan Dharma have tasted defeat in successive elections. It is they who are getting wiped out in the state,” says DMK spokesperson TK Elangovan.

In the past, the late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi had questioned in which college Lord Ram had acquired his engineering degree and had emerged unscathed. He had made that remark during the height of the Ram Setu agitation, opposing the Sethusamudram project to pave way for a shipping channel by cutting the Adam’s Bridge, also known as the mythical Ram Setu.