Kerala CM springs a surprise by walking the talk

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A few weeks ago, while addressing a public meeting, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he will not change his idealistic position on the Sabarimala issue for votes and seats. He was answering critics who said that the LDF government had watered down its initial stance, fearing backlash from majority Hindu voters.

For the past 10 weeks, the LDF government which welcomed the September 28 Supreme Court order allowing entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala shrine had been facing criticism that it followed a carrot-and-stick policy and in the end women would get only an empty bowl.

A section of women activists who had criticised the ‘Women’s Wall’ campaign also raised the contradiction in the government’s stance — not facilitating entry of women to the temple on one hand and asking women to come together for gender equality on the other hand — as a reason for their dissidence.

Vijayan, who is known as a leader who sticks to his promises, didn’t want Sabarimala issue to strip him of that reputation. The CM, who didn’t show any enthusiasm in meeting the delegation of TN organisation Maniti after their failed attempt to trek Sabarimala, could easily identify the fire in Bindu and Kanakadurga. The women, even after being forcibly removed from Marakoottam last week, insisted that they wanted to have darshan after the SC order. Maniti had additional disadvantages of being an activist organisation and coming from another state which might have prompted the government to slow pedal on their mission.

The police, which initially didn’t encourage the attempt of Bindu and Kanakadurga to trek again, gave them a week’s time to rethink. But, they didn’t budge an inch. With Tuesday’s Women’s Wall turning out to be a huge success and many hailing it as a referendum for Sabarimala women entry, Vijayan knew time was up.

The statesman in Vijayan was smart enough to gauge that the toughest challenge was to keep the plan under wraps. If sources are to be believed, even Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran and TDB president A Padmakumar had no clue about the women’s entry till the visuals shot by plainclothes policemen, who accompanied them, were aired by news channels.

The police have reportedly told him that repercussions of the entry would only last for a day or two and the force was fully equipped to deal with any adverse situation.

Sources in the CPM said the party had already weighed the repercussions of the move. The political alliances with parties having a minority base and social alliances with dalit organisations that the LDF has recently forged are aimed at compensating for the erosion of upper caste Hindu votes from its base. The party which first thought of harnessing the agitated NSS now doesn’t count its support. Instead, they plan to divide Nair votes and grab a fair share. The rest of the upper caste vote, the CPM believes, will be shared between Congress and BJP which also will work out in their advantage.

With BJP state unit lacking tact and vision, the Sabarimala issue has given a golden opportunity for the Congress-led UDF to reclaim lost glory.

Sabarimala is all set to be the major plank for the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala. It will be the first litmus test of LDF’s Sabarimala gamble. The UDF’s challenge now is to win the confidence of the silent believers who are the majority and thus teach the LDF a lesson.