The BJP in Kerala is facing flak for demanding a CBI probe into the Sabarimala temple gold heist but choosing to remain silent on the Ayodhya Ram temple donation-embezzlement case.
BJP’s Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar had, in a letter to chief minister V.D. Satheesan on Saturday, sought a CBI inquiry into the Sabarimala case and unconditional withdrawal of cases registered against devotees during the 2018 agitation coinciding with the women’s entry to the Lord Ayyappa temple. The BJP has also threatened a state-wide agitation if the demands are not met.
Kerala's Devaswom minister K. Muraleedharan told The Telegraph that Kerala High Court had constituted the SIT to probe the Sabarimala case and the state government would not be able to do anything in the matter. "The SIT has to file the chargesheet in the court. We will then have to seek permission from the court for a CBI probe,” the Congress leader said. He also questioned the Kerala BJP leadership’s silence on the Ram temple donation theft.
Two senior BJP leaders in Kerala said the party had decided that only leaders in Uttar Pradesh would comment on the issue. "Has Prime Minister Narendra Modi reacted to the Ram temple controversy? It's a regional issue that has happened under a trust. But the Sabarimala temple gold heist was directly initiated by the government (the previous Left government). Hence, only a CBI probe will bring out the truth," one of the two BJP leaders said.
Muraleedharan rubbished the logic, saying: "The BJP national leadership had flaunted the Ayodhya temple as a major achievement in Lok Sabha and state elections. If that's the case, then how can the Sabarimala case pertain to just Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts alone?”