Sabarimala is back in the political discourse of Kerala as the state is gearing up for a crucial assembly polls. The opposition Congress and the BJP are keen to corner the ruling CPM over the controversy surrounding the famed hill shrine even as the Marxist party appears to have softened its stance on a Supreme Court verdict that led to a series of agitation in the state.
The ruling Left front, especially Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had taken a hard-line stance that the government would implement the apex court verdict that allowed women of child-bearing age to enter the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala. This led to a face-off between the government and the devotees who considered the verdict as an assault on the age-old customs of the temple. The BJP and the Sangh Parivar outfits staged a series of protests which often turned violent against the government stance while the Congress-led UDF also rallied behind the devotees promising to find a legal solution to their woes.
The issue turned out to be fatal for the Left front as it suffered a historic drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The anger of the Sabarimala devotees, it is said, was one of the reasons for the Left's rout. The results of the assembly bypolls immediately after the Lok Sabha elections and the recent local body polls suggested that Sabarimala was no more an issue. However, with the assembly polls round the corner, the opposition parties are making it an issue and forcing the Left front to respond. The CPM, on the other hand, seems to have diluted its stance and is finding an ideological explanation for it.
Even as the issue is before a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court, the Congress last week said that if it wins the coming Assembly polls, it will bring legislation on women's entry to the hilltop temple.
In a reaction, CPM Central Committee member M V Govindan, indirectly referring to the issue, said that "it was impractical to implement dialectical materialism in a society which was not even ready to accept materialism".
This statement from Govindan was seen as a bid to win back the Hindu votes and then came the statement from CPM Politburo member M A Baby saying that a fresh affidavit on this would be given in the apex court. However, soon he backtracked and said what he meant was that once the verdict comes, there will be a detailed talk with all sections to decide the way ahead.
Following the CPM leader's statements, BJP's state President K Surendran said that it is not for people like Baby "who are sidelined in the party" to come out with such statements and instead Vijayan should come clean on what their stand is.
"The need of the hour is Vijayan should apologise to the believers for their wrong stand that they took and then decide on a fresh affidavit. Baby's statement means nothing, as he is only an 'outsider' in the party," he said.
Leader of Opposition and Congress veteran Ramesh Chennithala expressed surprise in the dilly-dallying of the CPM on the issue, asking if Vijayan has laid down his position as the leader of the renaissance movement.
State Congress president Mullapally Ramachandran said all these are nothing but a tactical move by the CPM and they should first discuss with all concerned before, they make any move.
Hitting back, state Culture Minister and senior CPM leader A K Balan said the Congress and others are trying to rake up passion for securing votes in the upcoming Assembly polls.
Joining issue was the powerful Nair Service Society, the socio-cultural body of the Hindu Nair community, whose General Secretary Sukumaran Nair, in a statement on Tuesday, blamed all the three political fronts for trying to score political points with the elections round the corner and pointed that each of these political outfits had time to work towards for upholding the interests of the believers.
(With IANS inputs)
