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The ‘Save Sabarimala’ campaign in Kerala led by the NDA-BJP will enter the state capital this morning and march to the Government Secretariat.
The campaign has been asserting that traditions at the hilltop shrine be maintained at all costs despite the Supreme Court ordering ‘entry to women of all ages’.
Gaining traction
The NDA-BJP, after some initial reluctance, assumed leadership of the campaign in an attempt to ‘unite’ all fraternal Hindu organisations under a single umbrella.
It may have helped it gain some traction already, with the march, which set off from Pandalam, attracting thousands of devotees in the last four days.
The NDA-BJP will be required to keep the momentum going into the election year of 2019, and some observers have expressed the view that it may be peaking too early.
But others suggest that the annual festival season that begins soon and ends in January gives it enough time to keep alive the issue into 2019, the year of Lok Sabha elections.
‘Conciliatory talks’
Meanwhile, the Travancore Devaswom Board, has called for what appears to be conciliatory talks, though without saying as much, here tomorrow with groups of ‘parties concerned.'
This follows the aborted plans announced earlier by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to discuss the issue, which was spurned by the Tantri (high priests) family and the Pandalam Palace.
The Pandalam Palace is a major stakeholder thanks to its strong association with the traditions followed strictly at Sabarimala. There is a ban on entry of ‘women of a restricted age' group.
The Tantri family and the Pandalam Palace representatives have been called again for consultations, but they are yet to respond.
The Tantri family has said that it would take a decision after consulting the Nair Service Society while the Palace will confabulate with the Tantri family and the Tantri Samajam.
But those directly in the forefront of the protest campaign, including the Nair Service Society, and those who have openly denounced the Devaswom Board stand, have not been invited.
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