Congress, BJP up the ante in political wrangle with LDF over “misappropriation” of Sabarimala temple artefacts 

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have upped the ante in the spiralling political scrabble with the ruling LDF over the alleged misappropriation of gold-plated religious artefacts from the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. 

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, Sunny Joseph, MLA, on Tuesday (October 7) sought to cast the “surreptitious supplanting” of the original gold-plated metal veneers covering the temple’s ancient stone engravings and sculptures with “replicated copper claddings” as a trespass on the faith reposed in the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) by lakhs of Ayyappa devotees, comparable only to the entry of women activists into the shrine under the LDF rule in 2018.

He said the damning High Court order, which pointed to entrenched fraud at Sabarimala, including the “theft and suspected sale” of consecrated objects to wealthy collectors, was an eye-opener for the public. “It has exposed the hollowness of the LDF’s Global Ayyappa Sangamam (held at Pampa in September”), he said. 

Mr. Joseph said the Congress would convene a massive rally in Pathanamthitta on October 19 for “protecting Ayyappa faith”. AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal will inaugurate the meeting, preceded by regional rallies across the State between October 14 and 19.

Meanwhile, Youth Congress workers appeared to set the tone for the Opposition’s “Save Sabarimala” campaign on Tuesday by clashing with the police in front of the TDB office in Pathanamthitta, demanding the resignation of Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan and TDB president P.S. Prasanth, resulting in injuries on both sides.

In Thiruvananthapuram, the police grappled with Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Hindu Aikya Vedi workers who attempted to storm the TDB headquarters. BJP leader V. Muraleedharan has signalled that the party will launch a mass agitation for the “protection” of Sabarimala. He also demanded a CBI enquiry, given the inter-State ramifications of the “scam”.

CPI(M) slams BJP, Cong.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State Secretary M.V. Govindan countered that the Congress-BJP attempt to revive their “failed” 2018 “faith protection” slogan to shore up their “flagging political fortunes” ahead of the local body polls and the Assembly elections in 2026 would not pass muster with Kerala voters.

He alleged that the Congress and the BJP have signalled a singular lack of respect for the High Court, which has constituted a special investigation team and set a 40-day deadline for the completion of the probe.

Mr. Govindan said the Congress disrupted the House on two consecutive days despite the government agreeing to an adjournment debate on the issue. 

 “The CPI(M) would politically blunt the Congress and BJP’s attempt to lay down a smoke screen of lies to obfuscate LDF’s manifesto for Sabarimala development and protection of faith,” he stated.