Devaswom minister V N Vasavan, for whose scalp the opposition UDF is baying, has washed his hands of the Sabarimala 'dwarapalaka' gold scandal. He said that gold went missing in 2019, and not after he assumed the role of devaswom minister. He also said that in 2019, Devaswom officials had failed to document the loss of weight of the returned gold. 

In 2019, CPM's Kadakampally Surendran was the devaswom minister, and another CPM leader, A Padmakumar, was the Travancore Devaswom Board president. 

"The propaganda that something had happened under this government's watch is nothing but a vain attempt to dull the shine of the Global Ayyappa Sangamam," Vasavan said. "In fact, even the High Court had found no fault in the way the gold foils were handed over for refurbishment in 2025," he said.

The minister said that, unlike in 2019, rigorous norms of transparency were adhered to this year.  One, the decision to refurbish the gold plating was done on the basis of a letter from the 'thanthri'. Two, the removal of the gold foil from the dwarapalakas was captured on camera. Three, it was done in the presence of the blacksmith, priests, officers, security personnel and Devaswom Vigilance. Four, the gold plates were accompanied by uniformed personnel when they were transported outside the state and also when they were returned.

"The court (HC) had raised suspicion only about the 2019 incident. After that, nothing unusual had happened," Vasavan said, absolving him of any responsibility. 

Nonetheless, the minister said it was not possible to implicate Padmakumar or anyone in this case at this stage. "Let the probe be held. If anyone had committed any wrong, let it come to light," Vasavan said, fully endorsing the Special Investigation Team probe into the missing gold from the dwarapalakas. 

He also brushed aside questions on his predecessor Kadakampally's role. "The Devaswom Department or the minister have no right to intervene in the Board's daily affairs. The only assistance we can provide is the coordination of various departments for the smooth conduct of the Sabarimala pilgrimage," he said.

The minister, however, said that the government supported a comprehensive probe into all that had happened (to the dwarapalakas) since 1998, when tycoon Vijay Mallya had sponsored the gold-plating of dwarapalakas and the Sreekovil.

The minister also defended the TDB's decision to hand over the work to Potti this year. He said that no one was aware of the missing gold, as Devaswom officials in 2019 had not officially recorded the loss. But this time, he said, transparency norms were stuck to.

"The gold that was taken out in 2025 was returned, and the court also approved the process. This time, there was no shortage of gold; the weight was properly recorded when taken and also returned. But when gold was taken out in 2019, the court had asked why such safeguards were not in place," the minister said.

Vasavan also conceded that Devaswom officials should have accompanied the gold plates to Chennai in 2019.