A year after Sabarimala verdict, has Kerala BJP given up its fight?

It has been a year since the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala. The BJP’s Kerala unit, it appears, has lost the steam it had generated over the issue, with no major support from the Central leadership over an ordinance to override the judgement that the state unit has been demanding publicly since a while.

During the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP centred its campaign in Kerala on the Sabarimala issue. Some of its leaders even promised an ordinance during the campaign if the party would be elected back to power at the Centre. Now, the Central leaders are passing the onus to the state unit. “It is the Kerala unit of our party that has to take a stand on it. Please talk to them,” said the BJP’s national spokesperson Narasimha Rao to THE WEEK, “We are not in a position to comment or give promises on the issue.”

The BJP’s Kerala unit, immediately after the verdict came, was in support of it. In fact, the party’s mouthpiece in Kerala, Janmabhoomi, even wrote a front-page editorial that called the verdict historic. It said, “Increasing the number of devotees in Sabarimala Temple will increase its fame.” An aggressive BJP leader in Kerala, K. Surendran, who was at the forefront of the agitation against the Supreme Court verdict, had, not so long ago, supported the entry of women of all ages in Sabarimala Temple. There are many in the BJP and the RSS in Kerala who, even now, support the verdict, but will not say the same in public as that could upset their vote bank in the state.

Said a BJP leader on condition of anonymity, “Our problem has never been with women's entry into Sabarimala. How long can that be prevented? But, the way the whole issue was handled by the CPI(M)-led LDF government, especially by an arrogant chief minister, upset us and the devotees. The haste the state government showed in implementing the court order was not justified. The LDF paid a heavy price for it in the Lok Sabha elections in the state, winning only one seat, that, too, by a close margin.”

Said Union Minister Sadananda Gowda to THE WEEK, “Sabarimala is a sensitive issue to many people and it needs to be handled very carefully. Something needs to be done to settle the issue. But I don’t know if issuing an ordinance is the way forward. If that is what the Kerala unit of the BJP wants, it has to put pressure on the Central leadership all the time. It is the state unit that has to convey the sentiments of devotees in Kerala to the our party’s national president. This topic has not come up so far in any of the cabinet meetings. But I hope the issue is solved at the earliest.”

Union minister from Kerala, V. Muraleedharan, said if parties like the Congress want the ordinance to be passed, they have to join hands with the BJP in Parliament. “We would bring an ordinance at an appropriate time. You need not worry about it,” said Muraleedharan to THE WEEK.

Many Hindu organisations in Kerala, like the Nair Service Society and the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, have not been as enthusiastic on the issue in the recent months. With the peak Mandala-Makaravilakku season at the temple to begin in November, the issue will crop up again.

The BJP and the RSS cadre, it is learnt, will not take it up as zealously as they did the last time. “In the first place, there is no clarity on the issue from the Central government. People have started asking us as to why the ordinance is not being brought up by the Central government. Also, we did not get any major benefits in the Lok Sabha elections in the state and could not win even a single seat even after all that we did for the Sabarimala Temple. Yes, minority consolidation against us was a factor. But, still, we should have done better. So, there is no point in repeating all the protests in the manner that it happened last year. But, if the state government forcefully brings non-devotees into the temple, just to make a point, we will react strongly,” said a BJP leader.

Union minister G. Kishan Reddy said he does not know what is being planned on the Sabarimala issue. “I am unaware of the deliberations in this regard. I will get back to you as soon as I hear from my colleagues in the Central government,” said Reddy to THE WEEK.

The Central government would ideally want the issue to be settled through mediation. There were talks earlier about a consensus to allow women of all ages to enter Sabarimala Temple during the off-season months (February to November), and then restrict their entry during the Mandala season. Although such a consensus found some supporters, the idea fizzled out.

Sources in the BJP said they will wait for what the apex court has to say on the review petitions it heard. A final judgement, in this regard, is likely to come up before the incumbent chief justice retires in November. The BJP will heave a sigh of relief if the apex court decides to refer the matter to a seven-judge bench, for, that will settle the issue for now. Party sources in Delhi said that an ordinance by the Central government on something that will be considered anti-women in other parts of the country and the world, especially in a progressive era, is not on the cards.

Said RSS's Kerala chief, P. Gopalan Kutty Master, to THE WEEK, “There is no need for an ordinance at the moment. The Centre may not do that as it will have to bear with all the consequences. Also, I believe, the state government won’t repeat its mistakes this year. It has learned its lessons. But if they do the same thing that they did last year, there will be protests from our side.” He said there were other Ayyappa organisations in the country that are taking up the issue and keeping it alive. “The RSS and the BJP only need to support them. There is no need for us to lead from the front on the Sabarimala Temple issue,” said Gopalan Kutty Master.

Kerala’s Temple Affairs Minister Kadakampally Surendran said he has nothing more to say on the Sabarimala issue and the state government will wait and watch. “On the Manadala season and what lies ahead, we will take an appropriate stand at the appropriate time,” he said to THE WEEK.