Nilakkal: Hitting out at the CPM-led LDF government in Kerala over the Sabarimala row, Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan Wednesday said its 'master plan' was to 'harass' the devotees and not allow them to go to the Lord Ayyappa Temple.
"What is their master plan? To harass the devotees... Not to allow the devotees to go to Sabarimala," he told reporters.
Asked about his opinion on the September 28 Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to offer prayers at the shrine, the BJP leader said, "I do not want to go into that.... My concern is about the devotees. Do not harass the devotees."
Questioning the prohibitory orders clamped at Sabarimala, the minister said that at least 50 pilgrims take the KSRTC bus to Pamba from Nilakkal. "Then what is the point of having prohibitory orders?"
He said that Sabarimala did not belong to Kerala alone and devotees from across the country should be able to visit the shrine.
After the shrine opened for the Mandala Makaravilakku pilgrimage season on November 16, there has been a steep fall in the arrival of devotees, especially from Kerala. The minister quoted a Malayala Manorama report on the declining number of pilgrims.
War of words
The minister and the cop engaged in a brief war of words over restrictions on private vehicles heading to Pamba, the base camp of Sabarimala.
Though IPS officer Yathish Chandra said the minister could travel in his official vehicle, Radhakrishnan preferred to proceed to Pamba in a state-run KSRTC bus as a mark of protest against the restrictions imposed by state authorities causing difficulties to pilgrims.
Radhakrishnan, the Minister of State for Shipping and Finance, arrived at the base camp here on Wednesday, a day after the visit of opposition Congress-led UDF MLAs and BJP MPs to take stock of facilities offered to devotees.
After reviewing facilities, the minister asked Chandra, why only KSRTC vehicles were being allowed till Pamba and asked them to allow private vehicles also.
"You (police) are unnecessarily harassing devotees. Why only KSRTC vehicles are being allowed till Pamba? This is not good for Sabarimala pilgrims. Private vehicles should also be allowed," the minister said.
Chandra, however, said that parking lots in Pamba had been washed away in the August floods. He said, the KSRTC buses would not park at Pamba and would be returning with pilgrims.
But if private vehicles were allowed, they would create traffic blocks causing difficulties to pilgrims.
The senior police officer explained to the union minister about the features of Pamba, an ecologically sensitive area. He also said if the Union minister gives him in writing to allow private vehicles to Pamba, he was prepared to allow all vehicles.
Accompanied by the BJP state leaders and activists, the minister later interacted with the devotees especially those who arrived from neighbouring states.
"The government should correct itself, otherwise the people will correct them", he told reporters in Pamba.
Later talking to reporters at Sannidhanam, Pon Radhakrishnan asked, "Was it right on the part of the cop to talk in a raised voice? Will SP Yathish Chandra talk like this to a Kerala minister?"
Suspend the cop: BJP
Kerala BJP leader AN Radhakrishnan on Wednesday sought action against SP Yathish Chandra, who had engaged in a brief altercation with the Union minister.
AN Radhakrishnan, who had accompanied Pon Radhakrishnan, said that the IPS officer showed disrespect towards the minister and he should be suspended for his actions. The BJP leader further said that his party would take up the matter with the state police chief.
"Yesterday, we all saw the way Yathish Chandra was standing with folded hands before leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala and today he was speaking with his sunglasses on and with utmost arrogance.
"We wish to know if he behaved rudely because our minister is dark-complexioned, while he and Chennithala are fair," AN Radhakrishnan said.
The BJP leader also alleged that the cop was displaying the 'haughty attitude of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan'.
Following the incident, BJP supporters blocked a few Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses in Thuckalay and Nagercoil.
Meanwhile, Hindu Aikya Vedi leader K P Sasikala on Wednesday said she will take legal action against SP Yathish Chandra for denying entry to the temple when she tried to visit the hill shrine on November 19. She will file a complaint with Lokayukta and Child Rights Commission against the officer.
Congress leaders booked
Senior leaders and activists of the Opposition Congress-led UDF, who staged protests at Pamba and Nilakkal Tuesday, had been booked for defying prohibitory orders.
BJP MPs, V Muraleedharan and Nalin Kumar Kateel, along with a group of other party leaders, also visited the base camp here and Pamba and reviewed infrastructure facilities.
They had also interacted with devotees and enquired about the facilities offered at the shrine complex.
