BJP leaders in Kerala are an excited lot these days as they sense the row over the Supreme Court verdict permitting the entry of young women to the Sree Dharma Sastha Temple in Sabarimala has given it a golden opportunity to gain a political breakthrough in the state. BJP state general secretary K Surendran, who had lost the Manjeshwaram Assembly election in 2016 by a whisker, suspects a plot targeting the famed Ayyappa temple and slams the Kerala government for provoking the devotees with its obduracy in implementing the apex court verdict. Speaking to Onmanorama, the young prominent face of the right-wing party reasons why his party and he himself had to to retract on their earlier stance on the controversial judgment and also throws light on his legal battle related to his electoral loss.
Q: You were one among the few politicians who came out openly supporting the entry of women of all age groups to the Sabarimala temple. What made you to go back from the earlier stance?
A: All those organisations or political parties that supported the entry of young women to Sabarimala should wholeheartedly accept that they had initially failed to understand the sentiments of common women in Kerala. Later, all were forced to take a stance supporting the devotees because that is what the majority wanted and we have to stand by it. The Supreme Court verdict directly affects women and the first voice of dissent came from them. Everyone thought in the beginning that women would welcome this verdict wholeheartedly. Neither political parties nor media nor even the political observers could anticipate such an outcome for the verdict in the beginning. We could not realise the pulse of
the public then. Coming to the RSS stance, the customs and traditions in North India are not similar to ours. For example, they do not give much importance to the idol/deity. There is a lot of difference between the purity concepts of the temples in Kerala and those in north India.
Q: Is it part of a tactic to secure more votes during the Lok Sabha polls that the RSS is retracting from its 'progressive stance' (as claimed by it while supporting the Sabarimala entry of young women)?
No. The stance taken by the Kerala BJP as well the RSS is not just aimed at the Lok Sabha polls. The decision, as I said, was taken after realising the attitude of ordinary women in Kerala, who are Ayyappa devotees. In the beginning, the government had said they were implementing only the Supreme Court verdict, but now they are adamant on letting in the young women to the temple. From that broad concept of women entry, the state government has now taken a rigid stand against Sabarimala and the Hindus. Neither the government nor the court is convinced of the speciality of the deity here.
It is true that we could not convince the court in the beginning. However, now that it has approved the review petition, it is a victory for the devotees. Suppose, if the review petition is won, who would take the responsibility for breaking the temple tradition? Why then, there is a hurry on the part of the government to let (young) women enter the temple before that? The government should not have any difficulty in waiting till the review petition is heard.
Q: Old evidences prove that young women used to enter the Sabarimala temple in the past. Why is it opposed with such stridency now?
A: That would have happened earlier and we are not rejecting the claims altogether. But all those evidences prove that women were permitted against the temple customs and traditions. However, all those evidences are now being taken up to prove that there was no hindrance to women's entry in the past. A few people like TKA Nair (the former principal secretary to prime minister) are supporting this argument as part of a conspiracy to back an airport being planned by the Believers' Church in Erumeli. The chief minister, TKA Nair and the Believers' Church back this airport. Nair was accused of helping Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin case. Once the Believers' Church airport is opened, Sabarimala shrine will have to be kept opened everyday as apart from pilgrims no other passenger could be expected for the airport. All such conspiracies would be unearthed in the near future.
Q: Around 50 organisations are taking part in the protests across the state after the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all age groups to enter Sabarimala. Why there is no united leadership to control the protesters and violence?
A: There is no violence over the Sabarimala issue. The sentiments of the devotees are wounded. There is a general perception that the women trying to enter the temple are not believers but activists, Rahna Fathima for example. So, they (protesters) suspect whoever going there are not believers. And there is also provocation from the police. I feel there is a mass psychology behind it. It is not practical to unite all the protesting organisations under one banner.
Q: It is said Rahna Fathima is your friend and she made the bid to go to the hill shrine as part of a conspiracy. Was it because of ignorance in using the Facebook page that her profile name was tagged in your post?
(Laughs). Yes, there were allegations earlier also that I had tagged (actress) Sunny Leone and Rahna Fathima in my Facebook posts. The fact is that, earlier, public tagging was open on my page, and any user could tag profile names to my posts. Those issues took place before verifying my page. There is no room for such allegations anymore as my page is being verified by Facebook for the last one year. Some are bringing up the old posts and claiming that I am close to some activists. The post in which Rahna Fathima was tagged was from 2016. All these allegations are baseless.
Q: Did the entry of Rahul Easwar as a representative of the Thazhamon tantri family help the protest anyway?
A: There is no credibility for the activities of Rahul Easwar in the ongoing Sabarimala issue. His stance was in no way beneficial to the whole movement. It created a lot of confusion among the devotees and in the beginning and the party too was also slightly confused.
Q: Many spiritual leaders like Mata Amritanandamayi and Sri Sri Ravishankar have followers in Kerala. Do you plan to approach such spiritual leaders seeking support to stop the entry of young women?
A: We don't want to reveal the names of the religious as well as spiritual heads who would be associating with us in the coming days. However, I can confirm that more leaders who have huge number of followers in the state would come out in the open to speak on the need to protect the tradition and customs that are specific to the land. Apart from the Hindu leaders, we also have the support of heads from other religions to speak on behalf of Sabarimala.
Q: On the one side, the BJP is taking out a Ratha Yatra, and on the other the Congress is also carrying out a campaign over the same cause. Do these signal a united campaign against the LDF in the coming elections?
A: Congress rally is just as an eye-wash because its central leadership is still against it. It is still not able to convince the people. On the one hand it is with the devotees and on the other it is not opposing any move by the state government to let the women enter the shrine. So, naturally, the devotees would not trust it. It has taken a middle path. It also accuses the BJP of instigating violence in Sabarimala, and at the same time, it cannot stop the entry of women. The issue cannot be solved without stopping the young women.
The Supreme Court decision to review the verdict in Open Court itself is a victory for the devotees. In effect, it approves a point the BJP had raised. The all-party meeting was a golden opportunity for the state government to safely carry out the pilgrimage season in one of the most important temples in the country that draws about five crore pilgrims. It spoiled it and provoked the devotees. Its intention is to restrict the pilgrims for some time because the basic amenities at Sabarimala are not yet ready, post flood.
Q: Why are you going ahead with the election case in Manjeswaram even after the incumbent MLA's death? Doesn't it show the BJP is not ready to face an election?
A: The situation in Manjeswaram is a different case altogether. Often when the sitting MLA dies, the case could be called off. But in my petition, the first demand was to disqualify him and make me the MLA. Second demand was to weed out the electoral malpractices in Kerala. Though everyone speaks about it, no one is moving ahead with a legal battle in this regard. Thousands are voting in the name of Non-Resident Indians (NRI) here because their names are included in the voter's list. This is an opportunity to review the huge election fraud taking place in Kerala. Let my case be a beginning. I have won 75% of that fight.
For disqualifying the incumbent and making me the MLA, numbers are important. I should prove more than 89 votes (were by fake voters). It is true I could not find that much number for now. But the next witnesses -- 67 in all -- are very crucial. And I have full confidence in them. I have checked their details to prove that they were not present here during the election. However, the problem is that though I could prove with evidence that they were not present here (for voting), if the person himself comes and tells the court that he was present and he cast the vote, the court will trust him. These witnesses were blocked from coming to Kerala for eight months since they (rivals) are sure that I can easily win once they tell the truth.
Politically, this is the ideal time for BJP to face an election in Kerala. For the time being I have decided to move ahead with the case. In future, may be during the Lok Sabha election, we will see what is most suited in Manjeswaram.
Q: How many seats does the BJP expect to win from Kerala in the upcoming general election?
A: We expect 10 to 12 seats, for sure, in the changed political scenario, but of course, I cannot predict the seats that would turn beneficial for us (smiles). This is our target and strategy for the coming election.
