Hours after Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin made a statement on Sanatan Dharma, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on 3 September said he does not want to condemn as Stalin exposed himself by making the statement.

       "The question is whether Congress will be still in alliance with the DMK. I have seen the statement of Karti Chidambaram as well, and also a statement somewhat similar from Mallikarjun Kharge. The question is whether the Congress will expel Karti Chidambaram from the party. This is a test for Rahul Gandhi. He has to make a decision whether he respects Sanatan Dharma or not. If he does not take any action and does not snap his alliance with the DMK, then people will believe that these people are anti-Hindu, they do not like Sanatan, Hindu religion," Hindustan Times quoted Himanta as saying.

       "Now I don't want to join the debate about whether Sanatan is good or bad. It was there since 5,000 years ago and it will remain in India till the sun and moon are there," Himanta said.

       Udhayanidhi's statement row:

       Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi said Sanatan Dharma is like dengue, malaria which should be eradicated as merely opposing it won't solve the problem.

       ALSO READ: ‘Let Sanatan Dharma fall, Dravidam win’: Udhayanidhi Stalin's remark faces BJP's scorn, Congress distances from DMK

       He even compared Sanatan Dharma's practice like Sati with Dravidian principles and said, “What did Sanatan do to women? It pushed women, who lost their husbands, into fire (the erstwhile practice of Sati), it tonsured the heads of widows and made them wear white saris. Child marriages too happened."