NSS says Ayyappa devotees ‘still bitter’ about events at Sabarimala
‘People expect a change for the good. There should be a government that stood for values and faith,’ says Nair Service Society basic secretary G. Sukumaran Nair.
Nair Service Society (NSS) basic secretary G. Sukumaran Nair on Tuesday mentioned Sabarimala Ayyappa devotees had been “still bitter” about the events that harm their religion.
Speaking to reporters after voting in Kottayam, Mr. Nair mentioned the folks anticipated a change for the nice. There needs to be a authorities that stood for values and religion.
Law Minister A. K. Balan mentioned the 2021 Assembly election was not a contest between believers and non-believers. Such a conclusion was reductive. There had been extra important points at stake. “I have not heard the NSS general secretary. It is unlikely he will make such a statement,” he mentioned.
Sabarimala appeared to dominate the political narrative even on ballot day. The emotive challenge was the central plank of the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaigns.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan mentioned figuratively in Kannur that deities of the land, together with Lord Ayyappa, would bless the Left Democratic Front (LDF) for ministering the folks within the time of disaster.
His phrases drew reactions from throughout the political spectrum and pushed the topic to the fore as voting picked up tempo throughout the State.
Soon, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala mentioned in Alappuzha that the Chief Minister had tried belatedly to “atone for his trespasses against the Ayyappa faith”.
Veteran Congress chief A. K. Antony mentioned Mr. Vijayan ought to apologise to believers for “desecrating” the Sabarimala temple by “ham-fistedly” enacting the 2018 Supreme Court verdict allowing ladies, no matter their age, to worship at Sabarimala.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy mentioned Mr. Vijayan’s invoking of Ayyappa religion was unconvincing. Sabarimala devotees would reject his election day overture.
Mr. Chandy mentioned the LDF authorities had paved the way in which for the Supreme Court verdict by submitting an affidavit backing ladies’s entry. It had trashed the earlier United Democratic Front (UDF) authorities’s affidavit looking for the preservation of Sabarimala custom and religion.
If Mr. Vijayan had actually empathised with the sentiment of Ayyappa devotees, he ought to have withdrawn the present testimony and submitted the UDF’s sworn assertion in court docket, Mr. Chandy mentioned.
CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran mentioned the NSS basic secretary might need crossed a line if confirmed that he had made a political assertion on polling day.
“No other social organisation leader had attempted to broadcast their political preference on voting day. BJP and Congress had harped on about Sabarimala because they had nothing else to say,” he mentioned.