The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said the arrest of junior Shankaracharya Vijayendra Saraswati exposed the Tamil Nadu government's intention to take control of the Kanchi mutt and install a 'puppet' to administer its affairs.

• Junior Kanchi seer arrested

"With the Kanchi Shankaracharya prevented by the Supreme Court from entering the Kanchi mutt and the arrest of the junior pontiff, there is now a vacuum in the management of the mutt. It is clear that the state government's motive is to take over the Kanchi mutt and install a puppet," Joshi told PTI.

He said the Supreme Court verdict granting bail to the seer due to 'lack of evidence is beyond the tolerance of the prosecution and its sole aim is to tarnish the reputation of the mutt in whatever possible manner'.

• SC grants bail to Kanchi seer

Senior party leader Sushma Swaraj, who had been deputed to receive the senior pontiff on his release from Vellore jail, would give her assessment of the situation on her return. The party would thereafter decide on its future course of action, Joshi said.

Party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the Tamil Nadu government was crossing 'constitutional limits' and demanded immediate central intervention to secure the release of the junior seer.

"The Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu is behaving like an extra-constitutional authority. Unnerved by the Supreme Court's decision to grant bail to Jayendra Saraswati, the state Government has not only tried to tarnish the mutt's reputation but also posed a challenge to the apex court," he told PTI.

"If the Centre does not intervene, it would mean the state government was taking all these steps with the connivance of the Union government," he added.