BJP Demands TDB Withdraw Earlier Position Supporting Women at Sabarimala
State BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in a statement on Sunday, said the board’s past actions under the directions of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government had “betrayed the trust of Ayyappa devotees.”
“The board should not assume that worshippers have forgotten the stand it took on February 6, 2019, during the hearing of review petitions in the apex court. It must publicly retract that position, which went against Ayyappa faith and temple traditions,” he said.
According to Chandrasekhar, the state government and the TDB’s submissions before the court had deeply hurt the sentiments of millions of devotees. He added that if both were sincere about hosting the convention, they must inform the court of their revised stance and issue a clear public clarification.
The BJP leader pointed out that organisations like the Nair Service Society (NSS) had strongly opposed the TDB’s earlier stand and stressed that their concerns should be addressed. He welcomed the NSS’s position that support for the convention could only be extended if temple traditions and sanctity were safeguarded, and backed their call for a non-political organising committee comprising only genuine Ayyappa devotees.
Chandrasekhar also noted that the social reform body, the Shree Narayana Guru Dharma Paripalana (SNDP), had asserted that women’s entry was unacceptable to devotees. Such views, along with those of other Hindu organisations, must also be respected, he said.
Criticising the state government, Chandrasekhar said it had failed to withdraw cases against thousands of devotees who had protested women’s entry into the shrine. He accused the CPI(M) of politicising the upcoming convention, citing remarks by party state secretary M. V. Govindan, and condemned the move to invite Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, calling it an “anti-Sanatan move” that was defeated due to strong BJP opposition.
The BJP leader warned that if any attempt was made to exploit the devotees’ convention for political gains, the larger Ayyappa community would stand united against it.