With two days to go for Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayak Chaturthi in Tamil Nadu, leaders of the national ruling party BJP and the state ruling party AIADMK have been trading barbs over a state government decision to curb public celebrations. BJP leaders have questioned the Tamil Nadu government on their “manliness”, asking them to take a cue from the neighbouring Karnataka government that has permitted the festival to be celebrated amid the COVID-19 pandemic. An outfit named Hindu Munnani had stated that they would celebrate the festival across the state by installing about 1.5 lakh idols. So keeping liquor outlets open won’t spread corona, but allowing 5-10 devotees to carry out rituals and celebrations while maintaining social-distancing would spread corona? Another AIADMK leader lashed out saying that, “Amma’s government did not need a Sharma’s certificate”.

Source: dna August 20, 2020 06:00 UTC