Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Working President M K Stalin on Friday (22 June) visited the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam near Trichy in Tamil Nadu, much to the chagrin of atheists and senior party leaders.

On the other hand, Stalin was given a ceremonial welcome by priests of the temple at Srirangam, inviting the ire of a section of the Hindus. The DMK leader visited the temple of Lord Venkateswara as it is considered a “Shukra Sthal” (place of Venus planet) which people visit to get rid of any “Shukra Dosha” (curse of Venus). The dosha is related to illness, struggles and hard work.

Twitterati were bemused with news, and the temple’s priests, too, drew their ire on the platform.

The DMK is avowedly atheist being an offshoot of the Dravida Kazhagam, whose founder E V Ramasamy Naicker “Periyar” had called those worshipping God as fools. DMK President M Karunanidhi, who is now seriously ill, has often being criticised for being harsh on Hindus and Hinduism. Tweeple also pointed out that once Karunanidhi had wanted to blast the temple with a cannonball.