In a statement issued to the media, Raja came down heavily on the officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, who he alleged had failed to abide by the Madras High Court’s order to retrieve temple properties in the State.

The BJP leader said the authorities should follow the HR&CE  Act and demanded a departmental action against the corrupt officials.

He further added that action should be initiated against those ministers who had been heading the concerned ministry, for looting temple properties worth crores of rupees.

Raja said that if the HR&CE  authorities failed to accomplish the task, his party will stage protests in front of the 38,468 temples in the State in December.

In response to a question about DMK president MK Stalin’s speech after assuming the top post, Raja said that Stalin had started a campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and that Prime Minister Modi’s saffron force was ready for the election face-off. 

He also said that the DMK had created an opportunity for the BJP to prove its strength in the upcoming general elections.

Stalin had on Tuesday said that the Modi government was trying to paint the nation in saffron colour and he wanted the party cadre to work towards dethroning the BJP led government at the Centre and the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu.