CPI signals that Sabarimala gold theft scandal eclipsed LDF’s governance track record at local body poll hustings

The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Monday, December 15, 2025, signaled that the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple gold theft scandal has also affected the Communist Party of India-Marxists. [CPI(M)] Political appointments in the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) probably helped the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to overshadow the ruling Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) track record as a pro-people government in the local poll campaign hearing.

CPI leader P. Santosh Kumar (MP) stated that Congress and BJP are using the Sabarimala theft case to create doubts about the government in the minds of voters. “The Congress and the BJP, in particular, set their campaign lyrics attacking the government in the Sabarimala theft case to the tune of the popular Ayyappa devotional song and managed to change the tenor of the political narrative to their advantage,” he added.

CPI External Affairs Minister Binoy Viswam has urged his CPI(M) counterpart MV Govindan to grapple with the local body elections of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the emergence of the BJP as a winning political force in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation ahead of the State Secretariat meetings of the respective ruling front allies.

Speaking to reporters outside the CPI(M) State headquarters at AKG Center in Thiruvananathapuram, Mr. Viswam doubted whether the turmoil around the Sabarimala theft scandal had overshadowed the ruling front’s narrative about the State’s expanded social safety net, improved public service delivery and rapid infrastructure development.

“It is wrong to focus only on Sabarimala. There are several other factors that create confusion among voters about LDF,” he said.

Mr Viswam CPI spokesperson said: janayugamIn his editorial on Monday, December 15, 2025, he explained the setback suffered by the LDF.

In particular, the editorial highlighted that the LDF had failed to democratically distance itself from leaders of social organizations who advocated schismatic religion and caste identity politics, primarily by demonizing minorities.

No leader’s name was mentioned in the article. However, he appeared to be indirectly criticizing the government for not giving voice to the contentious statements of SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan, which had drawn intense criticism from Muslim social organisations. The government also proudly featured Mr. Natesan at the Global Ayyappa Sanghamam at Sabarimala in September.

The editorial said the LDF was moving softly around casteist and communal forces and creating “doubt” about the ruling front’s commitment to secularism among “some sections” of the people.

Moreover, the editorial stated that social pension benefits, the LDF’s central campaign platform, are not charities of the State and are an inalienable right of the beneficiaries. This also appeared to be a biased attack on CPI(M) leader MM Mani’s now withdrawn statement blaming “ungrateful” social pension beneficiaries for the LDF’s failure.

The editorial, which appears to be a reference to the arrest of CPI(M) leader and former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A. Padmakumar in the Sabarimala theft case, stated that the LDF must face the political consequences of the wrong actions of those entrusted with key responsibilities. The newspaper reminded its readers that religious places of worship hold an important place in people’s minds.