In Sabarimala priest’s arrest, BJP sees an opening to take on the Left

Unlike the 2018 protest against young women’s entry at Sabarimala, prominent Hindu community outfits NSS and SNDP Yogam are absent from any agitation in the gold scandal. (File photo)

The arrest of a senior Sabarimala priest in connection with the theft of gold from the temple has sparked a political row, with the BJP and right-wing organisations alleging a conspiracy to shield the CPI(M) and Congress leaders involved in the scandal.

The special investigation team this week arrested the most senior Tantri (priest), Kandararu Rajeevaru, in connection with the misappropriation of gold from temple artefacts in 2019. Rajeevaru belongs to the Thazhamon family, whose members have traditionally been priests at Sabarimala. He is the first priest to be arrested in the case. All others arrested in the last three months were either senior executives of the temple management entity, Travancore Devaswom Board, or CPI(M) leaders who had headed the board.

After a meeting of senior leaders, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar told the media that the priest’s arrest was meant to save CPI(M) leader Kadakampally Surendran, a former devaswom minister, and V N Vasavan, the present minister.

“It is meant to divert attention. The board has the responsibility to protect the wealth of the Sabarimala temple, and the Tantri looks after the rituals. When the Tantri was arrested, why were political leaders not arrested? The action against Kadakampally and Vasavan was limited to mere questioning. The Tantri’s arrest is a bid by the government to overcome the setback of the local body elections,” he alleged.

Displaying photographs in which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi are purportedly seen with Unnikrishnan Potty, the key accused in the case, the BJP leader said, “The probe has turned into a farce to salvage the real culprits. There is a concerted conspiracy to protect the politicians to save the politicians behind the theft,’’ he said.

BJP leaders in Alappuzha visited the priest’s house. His family commands respect and awe from a large section of the Hindu faithful, and their residence is considered the ancestral home of the Sabarimala deity, Ayyappa.

Several Sangh Parivar leaders also expressed pain and shock over the arrest. R V Babu, the state president of the Hindu Aikyavedi, an umbrella outfit of various Sangh Parivar bodies, said those who have committed the crime should be punished, but the priest’s arrest appears to be a strategy to “save the CPM”.

Potty’s alleged visit to Sonia in the presence of two Congress MPs from Kerala, Adoor Prakash and Anto Antony, has already dampened the Congress’s war against the CPI(M) government on the gold theft scandal and given the BJP further ammunition.

The party is now planning to conduct a protest on January 14, Makar Sankranti, the most auspicious day during the annual festival at Sabarimala. BJP has urged the faithful to light “makara jyothi” at all houses that day as a mark of protest.