Sabrimala at the centre-stage

Santosh Kumar

The CPM in Kerala continues to be confused over the contentious Sabarimala issue which, the party believes, contributed much to its disastrous performance in the last general elections, losing 19 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

After six-day-long deliberations of the state committee, preceded by a house-to-house interaction with the masses in select areas by senior leaders, the CPM last month made it clear that the party is with the “believers” when it comes to entry of young women into the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan “The CPM is not against the faithful. The party is not against its cadres and sympathisers remaining faithful,” CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told the media indicating the party would make all efforts to win back those Hindus who were alienated by the government action last September.
On September 28, 2018, the Supreme Court had ruled that women of all ages can enter the Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala. Ayyappa is considered a celibate god and hence women of menstrual age are not allowed into the temple. However, the Left Front government, hoping to cash in on the ruling politically, showed undue hurry in implementing the order, ignoring public sentiment, especially among women devotees. The BJP capitalised on this and led a violent struggle against the government action lasting over three months. The movement helped the BJP, which was in a nascent stage at that time, grow in stature in the state, cutting into the t r a d i t i o n a l Hindu vote bank of the CPM.

Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple In a way, the party secretary admitted that the government action, referred to as the ‘Pinarayi Line’ in the party, a reference to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan who had insisted on implementing the apex court order, trying to force entry of young women into the Sabarimala temple was a mistake that cost the party votes.
However, the party has not categorically blamed the government or Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for the Sabarimala fiasco. No member of the state secretariat spoke against the chief minister who continues to have a stranglehold on both the party and the government. In fact, even party members privately agree with the Opposition that Pinarayi is “dhoti-clad” Modi of Kerala.

With the demise of CPM in West Bengal and Tripura, Vijayan has, for all practical purposes, overshadowed the central leadership led by party general secretary Sitaram Yechury. The Politburo or the Central Committee, two deciding power centres in the party, hardly intervenes in the affairs of the Kerala unit these days. In a way, the apparatchiks presiding over AKG Bhavan in New Delhi, the party national headquarters, are solely dependent on Kerala to fill in the party coffers.

But the message sent out to the cadre after the meeting was clear: somehow win back those Hindu votes. “The CPM has always tried to protect the beliefs of the faithful,” the state party secretary said.

Earlier the party used to insist that its stance, especially in implementing the Supreme Court directive in the case of Sabarimala, cannot be traded for a “handful of votes”. The latest stand indicates that the party is ready to compromise on principles, at least when it comes to Sabarimala, for bettering CPM’s chances in future by-elections, five of which are due by the end of this year.

Still, it is not clear from Kodiyeri’s words as to which side of the “believers” the party is with. One section of believers thinks that menstruating women should not be allowed into the temple while an equally vehement section believes that women of all ages should be allowed into the temple.

Pinarayi Vijayan Even as the party secretary’s statement failed to clear the air, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan added to the confusion two days later by saying that there was no change in his government’s stance on Sabarimala.
“There is no change in the state government’s stand on Sabarimala. Our stand was to implement the Supreme Court order. If the court orders otherwise, we will act accordingly,” the Chief Minister told newspersons in Thiruvananthapuram.
According to him, the “selfcriticism” which was raised during the CPM’s state committee meeting was that the “Left was unable to counter the false propaganda” and not about the stand taken on the Sabarimala issue.

One more Mandala time, considered the most auspicious period to have a ‘darshan’ at the Ayyappa temple (October – December), is round the corner, attracting thousands of pilgrims from all over the country. Last year, there was considerable fall in numbers following the tension prevailing in the state. This year too, many women’s organisations may attempt to enter Sabarimala. The government and the CPM are worried about the prospects.

By this statement Vijayan has once again proved that he was indeed above party. Never in the past had a CPM chief minister contradicted his party secretary.

At one stroke, Vijayan has left the cadre as well as the general public wondering as to what exactly the party was trying to convey regarding Sabarimala.

Kodiyeri, at least, has made it clear that the CPM will intensify its efforts in driving out RSS from temple trusts. He said party workers should not shy away from taking part in temple festivities as a rule. “In fact, they should help in such activities. The CPM’s stance on belief-related matters has been misconstrued. Majority of our party followers are believers. ” the party secretary said.

Interestingly, Kodiyeri’s press conference was held on the day Kerala observed Sree Krishna Jayanthi. Two years back, CPM had started taking out Shobha Yatras on that day in party stronghold Kannur to counter the BJP, an initiative started by the then district secretary P Jayarajan, who has now fallen out with the state leadership.

This year, there were no Shobha Yatras in Kannur by the CPM. The party also did not organise readings of the Ramayana in the Malayalam month of Karkidakam, something for which the party had come under criticism, both from followers and co-travellers.

One more Mandala time, considered the most auspicious period to have a ‘darshan’ at the Ayyappa temple (October –December), is round the corner, attracting thousands of pilgrims from all over the country. Last year, there was considerable fall in numbers following the tension prevailing in the state. This year too, many women’s organisations may attempt to enter Sabarimala. The government and the CPM are worried about the prospects. Meanwhile, the BJP is gearing up to turn Sabarimala into an Ayodhya of the South. It did not gain much electorally in the last general elections. Rather it was a disappointment. But it is hoping for a more benevolent divine intervention this time. It all depends on Lord Ayyappa, who now holds centre -stage in the politics of the southern state.