BJP Kerala President Rajeev Chandrashekar ; Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and TN CM MK Stalin
BJP Kerala state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has questioned when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin suddenly became an Ayyappa devotee. Speaking in Thiruvananthapuram on August 26, he asked Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan whom he was trying to fool by claiming that the Global Ayyappa Sangamam should not be seen as a political programme.
“If it is not political,” he asked, “was it not the responsibility of the Tiruvitamcoor Devaswom Board chairman, rather than the Chief Minister, to invite Stalin to Chennai? When local body elections are just months away, how can anyone deny that this is a political event? The people of Kerala themselves see it as such.”
He criticised the Devaswom Board for failing, over the past decade, to provide even basic facilities for pilgrims at Pamba and Sabarimala, yet now taking the lead in organising the Global Ayyappa Sangamam.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar further stated that “This is pure politics. Since when did Stalin and his DMK, who openly called Sanatana Dharma a ‘disease,’ become devotees of Ayyappa? Our stand is clear: neither Stalin nor Pinarayi Vijayan, who brutally targeted Ayyappa devotees during the Sabarimala agitation, has any moral right to attend this program. Their presence would be an insult to every Hindu.”
Rajeev Chandrasekhar questioned whether CM Pinarayi Vijayan, who has openly admitted that he is not a believer, should be conducting a programme like the Ayyappa Sangamam. He asked if the government truly intended the event to honour Lord Ayyappa and the Sabarimala tradition, why Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin, who has often mocked Sanatana Dharma was invited in the first place.
He further raised the point of whether the government would ever invite someone who insulted Islam to participate in a Muslim religious programme, and why Hindu faith is treated differently. According to him, the Chief Minister owes an answer to this.
Chandrasekhar also questioned if the CM has forgotten the cases filed against Sabarimala devotees, the harassment and imprisonment they suffered. He stressed that devotees have not forgotten those incidents. He concluded that Vijayan must stop attempting to mislead people, or else admit honestly that the Sangamam is nothing more than a programme aimed at capturing the Hindu vote bank.
While conceding that he may not have the political experience of Pinarayi Vijayan, Rajeev Chandrasekhar reminded that he has been a regular pilgrim to Sabarimala for the past 18 years and therefore understands the shrine and its traditions far better. He added that Vijayan should instead focus on governing a state burdened with the highest inflation and unemployment in the country.
The BJP leader asked whether CM Pinarayi Vijayan, before seeking to participate in the Ayyappa Sangamam, should first withdraw the cases filed against Ayyappa devotees and apologise to them. If he refuses, then what message does that send to the devotees?
Meanwhile, activist Bindu Ammini has reportedly written to the Chief Minister, seeking permission to attend the Global Ayyappa Sangamam and, in the same letter, requesting his help in facilitating her entry into Sabarimala.
Why, he further asked, were leaders such as Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu or Telangana CM Revanth Reddy not considered instead? He asserted that the government owes clear answers to the people on these questions.
It may be recalled that on January 2, 2019, at around 3.45 a.m., Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga, two women defying the traditional age restriction of 10 to 50 years entered the temple under heavy police escort. Both were dressed in black and taken inside when most pilgrims and protesters were asleep. Their entry, facilitated by the CPM-led state government, triggered widespread anger. Videos of the incident went viral across the country, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself confirmed it to the media. The temple priests subsequently closed the shrine to conduct purification rituals.
