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BJP sees Sabarimala as

its key to enter Kerala

The BJP has already announced to take out a Sabarimala Yatra ly whereas the BJP has launched an
from November 8 to channelise people’s anger into firm electoral aggressive campaign as it is sure the
Sabarimala issue will give the party a
gains in general elections, reports kv lakshmana foothold in Kerala. The Congress and
the Left have prevailed in the state
or the Bharatiya Janata Party major communities came together to till now, alternately running the gov-
(BJP), the Sabarimala devo- check the assault on Hindu customs ernment. The BJP is also strengthening
tees’ protest against the entry and tradition,” said BJP general secre- its unit in the state and has inducted
of menstruating women into tary K Surendran. former ISRO chief Madhavan Nair
F the sanctum sanctorum has BJP president Amit Shah has direct- and former president of Travancore
come as just the issue it hopes will help ed his party men to work with and sup- Dewasom Board G Raman Nair into the
it crack Kerala, a state that has been a port all protest movements and also try party.
no-go area for it so far. The BJP has to woo the two powerful communities, The BJP is also planning to hold
already announced to take out a Saba- the Nairs and the backward Ezhavas, protests over the issue in other South
rimala Yatra from November 8 to tap who together form 54 per cent of Kerala Indian states as Ayyappa devotees
into and channelise the people’s anger population. come from all these regions. Analysts
into firm electoral gains in the general The Congress is treading cautious- are, however, unsure as to whether the
elections to Lok Sabha round the
corner.
The BJP Kerala unit has come out
strongly in support of protesting devo-
tees, against whom the state govern-
ment has unleashed a crackdown. So
far, over 3500 protesters have been
arrested by the police for alleged vio-
lence and intimidation of women who
tried to enter the Sabarimala temple
when it opened for five days in Octo-
ber. The protests across the state were
so effective that the government failed
to implement the SC order and enable
entry of women who came forward to
enter the shrine.
BJP Kerala unit president PS Sreed-
haran Pillai has announced a rath
(chariot) yatra starting on November 8
from Kasargod to Sabarimala in a bid
to gain politically. Interestingly, even
the Congress was tepid in its reaction
to SC verdict and extended support to
the protesters, but in the competition to
win over the devotees, the BJP appears
to be far ahead.
“We see a major Hindu consolida-
tion on Sabarimala. Anger is visible
everywhere. For the first time many

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