Not solely has Kerala’s Left Democratic Entrance (LDF) authorities been cornered by political rivals, it has additionally discovered itself going through a rift throughout the management CPI(M) after the Kerala Excessive Courtroom ordered an in depth investigation into alleged misconduct, together with valuables and gold at Sabarimala temples earlier this week.
Opposition Congress and the BJP accused the Pinarayi Vijayan-led authorities of “selling temple looting via the state-run Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).” Along with the disaster, CPI(M) leaders and former TDB chiefs are concentrating on one another on this situation.
“The cash and valuables donated by followers have been looted by TDB and its intermediaries. Why did the board curb reviews of shortfalls in 2019? Why had been TDB and its chiefs illegally stolen cash from the temple grounds?
The Excessive Courtroom acted on the Sumotu case primarily based on reviews filed by the temple’s vigilance officers, and on September twenty ninth accused TDB of a “informal and negligent” method. He directed a former Excessive Courtroom choose to arrange stock of all the property on the shrine, and requested the vigilators to “expose and expose all of the misconduct.”
In keeping with a report from the vigilante officer, the cash of the “Dwarapalaka” idol on the temple’s “Sanctum Sanctorum” was eliminated with out discover to the court docket, and about 4 kg of gold was discovered after the idol was returned after 2019 gold plating.
The BJP has additionally dropped considerably within the Vijayan authorities, with former union minister V Muraleedharan accusing him of being “a deceptive follower within the outfit organizing Ayyappa Sangamam.” “No different temples within the nation will see such plunder of wealth. The Minister of Devaswam and President TDB should reply,” he mentioned.
In the meantime, CPI(M) chief and present TDB president PS Prasanth admitted that it lapsed when authorities allowed one Unnikrishnan Potti to take idols out of the temple to cowl the gold. “It should not have occurred. Let’s have a probe. The issue is being raked collectively to take away the sheen from the Ayappa Sangamam,” he mentioned.
The CPI(M) has been fired for a very long time on temple-related points in Sabarimala. In 2018, she confronted robust criticism for serving to menstrual girls enter the temple. Extra lately, the worldwide Ayyappa Sangamam hosted by the TDB has been accused by the Congress-led United Democratic Entrance (UDF) of being a political occasion being held within the curiosity of the CPI(M).
The present controversy has led to an infight between the 2 senior CPI (M) leaders and former TDB presidents Okay Anandagopan and Padmakumar.
Anandagopan, who led the TDB between 2021 and 2023, emphasised the necessity to strictly comply with the handbook to cope with valuables within the temple. Padmakumar, who served as president from 2017 to 2019, mentioned that when he suspected it was a failure, “Are all the things about Sabarimala occurring in line with the handbook? Are some former TDB presidents touring overseas?
G Sudhakaran, former Devaswom minister and senior CPI (M) chief G Sudhakaran, who held the Devaswom portfolio from 2006 to 2009, was additionally caught up in debate and denounced the present TDB administration. “Throughout my tenure, nobody took a plate of gold (exterior the temple) and there was little corruption. Lord Ayappa stays secure within the temple for political safety.
The controversy has given ammunition to Solar Associates resembling Kerala, Hindu, Aikiya Vedi. “The TDB is managed by Citu, the commerce wing of the CPI (M). They haven’t any proper to regulate the temple. The board can’t wash their fingers in query by denouncement of Potty. We are going to function a protest in opposition to corruption within the temple.”
Who’s Potty?
The sponsorship that Potty, from Sri Ramprum in Bengaluru, loved from TDB, places one other political twist on the controversy.
Potti had claimed that further gold-plated idols had been in robust rooms within the temple, however final week these idols had been seized from Thiruvananthapuram’s sister’s home.
The difficulty was introduced earlier final month after the Excessive Courtroom realized that it was additionally taken out in 2025 for gold plating with out discover to the officers or courts. The court docket then appeared into all the small print and located that in 2019 the idol was gold plated with a 40-year guarantee and that there was no foundation for sending it in 2025.
The court docket mentioned that Potty was “an individual with a suspicious precedent,” robbed the idol for gold plating (initially made in 1999), and returned with an unexplained discount of 4.541 kilograms from the idol’s weight.
“With out taking any motion on this discount, in 2025, temple authorities handed him the idol once more and tousled the cash, so the court docket noticed the authorities and directed them to take the idol again to the temple instantly.
