The by-election results seem to have cured Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of any inhibition he might have harboured about his position on Sabarimala women's entry.
During Question Hour in the Assembly on Monday, the Chief Minister forcefully reiterated that the LDF government had no plans to introduce a legislation to circumvent the Supreme Court verdict. The Chief Minister took on tough questions head on.
Three young Congress legislators - I C Balakrishnan, A P Anil Kumar and A Vincent - asked a pointed question. “Did your government argue strongly in the court for the removal of restrictions on women?”
This was a charge that had embarrassed the Pinarayi Vijayan government and the CPM during the Lok Sabha campaign. But on Monday, the Chief Minister looked least concerned when he answered yes.
He was not provocative, just casually matter-of-fact. “When the issue was taken up for consideration by the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, there were two affidavits in front of the Court,” the Chief Minister said.
The first was the affidavit submitted by the V S Achuthanandan government in 2007 that wanted equal rights from men and women in matters of faith. Later, in 2016, the Oommen Chandy government had filed a counter affidavit that objected to the entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala.
“When the Supreme Court asked which affidavit should be considered, we took the stand that it has to be the first one (the 2007 affidavit),” the Chief Minister said. “The government lawyer, therefore, argued on the lines of the 2007 affidavit,” Pinarayi said.
“Is it not true then that it was the government's stand that prompted the Supreme Court to pass a verdict in favour of women's entry,” the Chief minister was asked. Few months ago the LDF would have attempted to dodge this question. But after the encouraging win in Konni and Vattiyoorkavu, places where the Sabarimala verdict and the government's response to it had offended voters, the Chief Minister can afford to be politically bold.
“The order itself clearly states that the verdict has been issued after assessing the fundamental aspects of the Constitution,” he said.
What the Congress MLAs would have thought was the toughest question was responded to with a determination that would have seemed provocative in the early part of 2019.
“Does the government intend to stick to its original stand at this moment when the Supreme Court is considering review petitions,” the Chief Minister was asked. “The government still wants the Supreme Court verdict to be implemented,” the Chief Minister said.
The Chief Minister also said that the former UDF government, which submitted a counter affidavit in 2016, had neither bothered to tell the Court that the new affidavit would substitute the old one nor did it withdraw the old one.
