Kochi | Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan on Saturday described Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as a "fake devotee" and alleged that the Ayyappa Sangamam was organised with "an eye on the upcoming elections".
The conclave is being held as part of the 75th anniversary of the Travancore Devaswom Board.
Speaking to reporters at Kothamangalam after attending a Congress event, Satheesan claimed, “Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan spoke after the inauguration like a fake devotee. This devotion, which never suited him, is merely a ploy with an eye on the upcoming elections. He is hiding the atrocities carried out at Sabarimala with the help of the police, violating traditions during his tenure”.
Satheesan said there were no answers to the questions raised by the Congress regarding the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on women's entry to the hill shrine and the withdrawal of cases against devotees.
“It is a different form of politics by giving it a colour of religion. For us, religion and devotion are personal matters,” he said.
He criticised the government's handling of Sabarimala-related issues, pointing out that the previous UDF government had acquired 112 hectares of forest land for the development of the shrine, but no work had been carried out there till now.
He alleged that no development work had been undertaken at Sabarimala in the past nine-and-a-half years.
Satheesan also claimed that the state government had failed to meet its financial commitments to the temple. He said the government had declared that Rs 10 crore would be given to Sabarimala every year, but had defaulted on paying Rs 82 lakh, the annual obligatory amount, for the past three years.
“Sanitation society expenses are to be jointly borne by the government and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB). But no payment has been made by the government. The entire amount is being paid by the TDB,” he said.
He further criticised the publicity materials released in connection with the Ayyappa Sangamam. “There is a flex board installed in Thiruvananthapuram city. But it doesn't have Ayyappan's picture. Only Pinarayi Vijayan and Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan are seen in it. Not even the TDB president is there on the board,” he said.
According to Satheesan, the TDB president has been reduced to the role of a food committee president. “These fake tricks will be realised by the public,” he added.
When asked about Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) general secretary Vellappally Natesan accompanying the chief minister in his car to the Ayyappa Sangamam, Satheesan remarked, “Who accompanies the CM is his own decision. I am not the one to decide.”
