Sabarimala Temple Row: Congress, BJP walk out of all-party meet called by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have walked out of the all-party meeting on Sabarimala called by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday. The chief minister had called the meeting to discuss the row over entry of women in the age group 10-50 years at the Sabarimala temple ahead of the two-month long annual ‘Mandala Makkaravillakku’ or the pilgrimage season, set to start on November 17. The doors of the Lord Ayyappa shrine will open on Friday.

As many as 500 young women have registered on the website of the Kerala police, for darshan, over the last one week.

Last week both the BJP and the Congress protested in Kerala against the Supreme Court’s order, lifting ban on girls and women in 10 to 50 age groups, from entering the temple. While the BJP took out a rath yatra called ‘Save Sabarimala Campaign’, the Congress organised padyatras across the state.

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Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused the BJP and the RSS of conspiring to create trouble at Sabarimala. “The odious politics and perfidious ways of the BJP stand exposed. Evidence has surfaced that BJP leaders in the state connived to create trouble,” Mr Vijayan said on November 9.

The Sabarimala temple saw massive protests when it opened for monthly pujas for five days in October and two days earlier this month. Not a single woman in menstruating age groups has been able to enter the shrine so far.

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On Wednesday, woman rights activist Trupti Desai asked for complete police protection during her visit to the temple starting Friday. Activist Rahul Eashwar promised to fight her tooth-and-nail to prevent her from entering the shrine.

As many as 3,505 protesters have been arrested and around 529 cases were registered in connection with a series of incidents of violence in the state after the opening of the temple gate in October, according to NDTV.