<p dir="ltr">Union Minister of State L Murugan on Friday sought to put an end to the controversy surrounding ‘Kongu Nadu’, saying the term appeared in his bio-data released by the BJP was due to a “clerical mistake”.</p>.<p dir="ltr">“It is a clerical mistake. There is no need to talk about the issue anymore. It is over. Let us not talk about the issue,” Murugan told reporters after his colleague K Annamalai assumed office as President of Tamil Nadu BJP.</p>.<p dir="ltr">Murugan and Annamalai suggested that the BJP does not support any demand for bifurcation of Tamil Nadu. “It is like making a mountain out of a mole. The term ‘Kongu Nadu’ was used as a social identity for Murugan Ji,” Annamalai said.</p>.<p dir="ltr">The new BJP chief also said he has sought an explanation from the Coimbatore District office-bearers for passing a resolution demanding Kong Nadu. “We don’t subscribe to that,” he said.</p>.<p dir="ltr">The ‘Kongu Nadu’ controversy began last week after a profile released by the BJP mentioned that Murugan hailed from Kongu Nadu, otherwise known as the western region of Tamil Nadu. The Kongu region comprises seven districts, and the AIADMK-PMK-BJP combine won 33 of the total 50 seats in the region while the DMK alliance almost every other region of the state.</p>.<p dir="ltr">Adding fuel to the fire was a front-page report carried by popular Tamil daily Dinamalar that said the Centre was planning to carve out Kongu Nadu as a Union Territory from Tamil Nadu as a “befitting” response to the DMK government referring to the Union Government as ‘Ondriya Arasu” in Tamil.</p>.<p dir="ltr">The Dinamalar report claimed the BJP was toying with the idea of announcing the region into a Union Territory since it enjoys popularity in the region. A few BJP leaders also appeared to support the demand by saying it was the government’s duty to fulfill the aspirations of people, leading to condemnation from across the political spectrum.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Union Minister of State L Murugan on Friday sought to put an end to the controversy surrounding ‘Kongu Nadu’, saying the term appeared in his bio-data released by the BJP was due to a “clerical mistake”.</p>.<p dir="ltr">“It is a clerical mistake. There is no need to talk about the issue anymore. It is over. Let us not talk about the issue,” Murugan told reporters after his colleague K Annamalai assumed office as President of Tamil Nadu BJP.</p>.<p dir="ltr">Murugan and Annamalai suggested that the BJP does not support any demand for bifurcation of Tamil Nadu. “It is like making a mountain out of a mole. The term ‘Kongu Nadu’ was used as a social identity for Murugan Ji,” Annamalai said.</p>.<p dir="ltr">The new BJP chief also said he has sought an explanation from the Coimbatore District office-bearers for passing a resolution demanding Kong Nadu. “We don’t subscribe to that,” he said.</p>.<p dir="ltr">The ‘Kongu Nadu’ controversy began last week after a profile released by the BJP mentioned that Murugan hailed from Kongu Nadu, otherwise known as the western region of Tamil Nadu. The Kongu region comprises seven districts, and the AIADMK-PMK-BJP combine won 33 of the total 50 seats in the region while the DMK alliance almost every other region of the state.</p>.<p dir="ltr">Adding fuel to the fire was a front-page report carried by popular Tamil daily Dinamalar that said the Centre was planning to carve out Kongu Nadu as a Union Territory from Tamil Nadu as a “befitting” response to the DMK government referring to the Union Government as ‘Ondriya Arasu” in Tamil.</p>.<p dir="ltr">The Dinamalar report claimed the BJP was toying with the idea of announcing the region into a Union Territory since it enjoys popularity in the region. A few BJP leaders also appeared to support the demand by saying it was the government’s duty to fulfill the aspirations of people, leading to condemnation from across the political spectrum.</p>
