Her ally and MDMK chief Vaiko has been rather quiet on the issue. Vaiko has been a strong proponent of the project and had criticised the DMK strongly during the Assembly election campaign for taking sole credit for getting it implemented.

Allyspeak

RJD: Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday accused the BJP of exploiting the Sethusamudram project and asserted that Ram Sethu did not exist. “Lord Ram did exist but there is no Sethu. A lot of things happen naturally,” Yadav said. “The BJP is just making an issue out of the whole thing,” he said.

CPI(M): Party Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said: “It is improper to interfere in the religious affairs of any community as the Constitution provides protection to all religions in the country.” Meanwhile, appreciating the Government’s decision to withdraw certain paragraphs in the affidavit filed by the Archaeological Survey of India in the Sethusamudram case, the CPI(M) Politburo flayed the BJP for what it called “bankrupt communal politics”. “The Government of India has taken an appropriate decision to withdraw certain paragraphs in the affidavit filed by the ASI in the Supreme Court that were considered extraneous to the matter at hand,” it said in a statement.