Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday alleged that Tamil Nadu banned the live telecast of Ayodhya Ram Mandir programmes on Monday and called the decision an "anti-Hindu hateful action."

The finance minister also alleged that the state police were stopping private temples from organising events commemorating the consecration ceremony of the temple in Ayodhya.

"TamilNadu government has banned watching live telecasts of #AyodhaRamMandir programmes on January 22. In Tamil Nadu, there are over 200 Shri Ram temples. In HR&CE-managed temples, no puja/bhajan/prasadam/annadanam in the name of Shri Ram is allowed. Police are stopping privately held temples from organising events," she said on a social media post on X.

She further added, "They are threatening organisers that they will rip off pandals. Strongly condemn this anti-Hindu, hateful action".

"TN govt is unofficially claiming law and order issues to justify the live telecast ban. False and fake narrative! There were no L&O issues on the day of the #Ayodhya verdict. Not even the day when PM @narendramodi laid the foundation, in any part of the country."

"The groundswell and the voluntary participation of people to celebrate #ShriRam in TN has rattled the anti-Hindu #DMK " she further added.

Hitting back at the politician, the Tamil Nadu government said the BJP is propagating erroneous information to divert people's attention from the DMK Youth Conference in Salem.

HR & CE Minister P K Sekarbabu said it was unfortunate that a person like Nirmala Sitharaman, who holds “high position” was indulging in spreading news that is “blatantly false and fake.”

(With UNI inputs)