In an explosive video that was aired by local news channels, Kerala BJP president Sreedhar Pillai was heard saying that chief priest of the Sabarimala temple had consulted him before announcing that the gates of the temple would remain closed for women.
He added that the Sabarimala issue was a ‘golden opportunity’ for his party.
However, the Sabarimala chief priest has denied Pillai’s claims and said that he did not discuss it with the BJP Kerala president and only discussed it with his own family.
At a closed event, Pillai said about his phone conversation with the tantri:
“We had a long discussion on it. He was very agitated. I told him you are not alone, and there will not be any contempt of court. He told me that my word was enough and he will announce his decision.”
Pillai in the video can also be heard confirming that the BJP had planned the protest in October. He also admitted that Sreehjith, IPS, was stopped while climbing his way to the temple with journalist Kavitha Jakkal and activist Rehana Fathima.
“Our BJP secretaries had gone to a (decided) place and carried out what they were supposed to do successfully. When Sreejith IPS went to Sabarimala with two women, it was a Yuva Morcha leader who assembled devotees and stopped them. The outside world doesn’t know all this.”
Pillai added that this is proof that the tantris have faith in the BJP.
He also said he believed that the contest in the state had now boiled down to only two parties, based on the Sabarimala issue – the ruling Left alliance, and the BJP.
“We set forward an agenda. Many people have lost to that agenda and are leaving the stage. What is left I believe is us and the ruling party.”
Reacting to the leak, Sreedharan Pillai told the media that he spoke to the temple chief as an advocate and he will be supporting him in the contempt of court case.
“Many people, including the tantri, have called me to seek legal support. Since we have a contempt of court case against us, I am not reacting. It was filed by someone in the Chief Minister’s office.”Sreedharan Pillai
Meanwhile, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala rejected to Pillai’s claims of Congress having fallen to the Sabarimala agenda set by the BJP.
“We have not fallen into any agenda. Our stand in the Sabarimala issue has been the same.”Ramesh Chennithala
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a tweet, said that the BJP stands exposed in creating trouble in Sabarimala issue.
The media was barred from attending the event where Pillai made these claims.
Protests erupted in Sabarimala in October after the gates of the temple were open for both men and women, following the Supreme Court verdict which reversed the temple’s age-old tradition barring women between the ages of 10-50 years from entering the sanctum.
(With inputs from The News Minute)
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