Thiruvananthapuram | The Opposition Congress-led UDF on Wednesday accused the Left government in Kerala of "deliberately mismanaging" the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage, which began earlier this week.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, said pilgrims had to stand in queue for 18 hours for darshan due to the authorities' failed crowd management.
He also cited shortage of drinking water and uncleaned toilets, and devotees facing problems as the Pamba River is polluted.
"The government, which had shown fake devotion to Lord Ayyappa by conducting the Global Ayyappa Sangamam and plundered the deity's gold, is now deliberately trying to mess up the pilgrimage season in Sabarimala," he alleged.
Satheesan was addressing reporters in the presence of the prominent leaders of the UDF.
"The government should take serious measures to regulate and address all these issues. Otherwise, a delegation of the UDF will visit Sabarimala," he said.
Pointing out the concerns raised by K Jayakumar, the newly appointed president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), Satheesan said the situation in Sabarimala was on the verge of a stampede on Tuesday due to the indiscriminate flow of devotees.
Lack of coordination between various departments and absence of adequate preparedness had led to such a situation, he further said.
He also claimed that if the gold loss case in Sabarimala is investigated properly, the present Devaswom Board minister and his predecessor and three former presidents of the TDB would be behind bars.
As nearly two lakh devotees arrived at the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala on Tuesday within 48 hours of the temple opening for the annual 'mandala-makaravilakku' pilgrimage season, the TDB and the police struggled to manage the massive flow of pilgrims, including children.
Visuals on TV channels on Tuesday showed a massive crowd of devotees packed like sardines in the small area in front of the 18 steps that have to be climbed to reach the main doors of the shrine.
Large crowds of devotees packed the pilgrimage route from Pamba, the foothills of Sabarimala, to the Sannidhanam, with many facing hours-long delays in climbing the path.
