Reopening of temples has triggered a political row with the Sangh Parivar accusing the State of forcing the decision and the government putting up a spirited defence denying room for a fresh bout of protests in the run-up to the local body and Assembly elections.
The Parivar organisations are sore that they have been kept out of the consultations Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had with heads of religious institutions for evolving a consensus on opening places of worship. Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan was the first to set the ball rolling by charging the State of acting in haste on the basis of the Central guidelines without evaluating the local scenario.
Minister’s response
This prompted an instant response from Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who said the State was not on a collision course with the Centre in fighting the pandemic and was only abiding by its directives on all issues, including the reopening of temples.
UDF lies low
United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders who had fervently pressed the demand have opted to lie low and it has turned out to be a spat between the State and the Parivar organisations, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The government had waited till the Centre set the guidelines for lifting the restrictions and ensured that it was not acting in haste to draw flak
The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) which manages 1,248 temples, including Sabarimala, and the Guruvayur Devaswom had reiterated its resolve to follow the COVID-19 protocol to ensure that the pilgrim management was not intensifying the pandemic spread.
Responses of the government and the Devaswoms on the issue are calibrated and seem to be aimed at staving off any move to use it as a trigger for targeting the government as in the case of the agitations over the legal nod granting entry for women of child-bearing age to the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. The best efforts of the Parivar organisations do not seem to invoke any protest and the government is consciously avoiding a friction so that it could fight the polls with ease.
