The campaign against the Supreme Court verdict granting unrestricted entry for women to Sabarimala may reach a feverish pitch in the next fortnight with the scene of action shifting out with the temple closing on Monday after monthly pujas.
The short interval between November 13, when the Supreme Court takes up petitions challenging its own judgment, and November 17, when the temple opens for the Mandalam festival, will be crucial for the Left Democratic Front government, the United Democratic Front, and the BJP and the Sangh Parivar organisations, with all of them mounting an intense drive to mobilise mass support.
The LDF campaign will lay thrust on the affidavit the government had filed in the Supreme Court for constituting a commission comprising those proficient in Hindu religion, tantrik rites, and ritualistic tradition of the temple for consultations. The constitutional imperative thrust on the government to implement the verdict too will be explained as part of the campaign.
The UDF will try to reiterate its solidarity with the believers and also put the Central government on the dock for refusing to pilot legislation to override the judgment. The State government too will draw flak for its refusal to file a review petition.
The BJP State leadership is annoyed over the way its bete noire, the Antharashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP) led by Praveen Togadia, is trying to wrest its space by adopting a belligerent stance on the issue.
The AHP may have only a token presence but has taken an aggressive position, prompting the Sangh Parivar to go on a overdrive so that it does not cede ground to similar outfits in due course.
BJP State president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai has protested against bracketing of the AHP with the Parivar organisations and blamed it squarely for fomenting trouble at Pampa and Nilackal last week.
“The media should understand that such organisations are not part of the Parivar and our party should not be taken to task for its misdeeds,” he said.
The rival fronts as well as the Parivar organisations are vying with each other to drive home what they think is the advantage over each other within the next two weeks.
