Chennai, Feb 26 (IANS): The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a political party that is part of the DMK alliance, has come out against the HR&CE department of the state government conducting night long Shivaratri festival at Kapaleeswar temple.

VCK senior leader Vanniya Arasu in a statement on Friday night said it was dangerous on the part of the state government to conduct religious festival.

He said that the HR&CE department, though is a separate department for the purpose of temple management, should be confined to overseeing the system of management. He asked whether the DMK government that has come to power by projecting secular credentials was taking such a position to please the RSS and BJP.

The senior leader of the VCK said that the DMK government cannot organise events for religious propaganda and added that this would give a wrong message to the people of Tamil Nadu. He said that even the AIADMK government had shied away from celebrating whole night Shivaratri programme.

It may be noted that the HR&CE department of Tamil Nadu which is managing the Kapaleeswar temple has organised music, dance, and debates throughout the night and has advertised about the event.

The VCK is a political party that is working for the upliftment of the Dalit communities and has been vocal on several issues. The party founder leader Thol Thirumavalavan is a Member of Parliament.