Sabarimala Issue Did Not Hurt Left In Local Body Polls, Says Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said the Sabarimala gold loss issue did not have a major impact on the LDF in the last local body elections despite the Congress and the BJP constantly campaigning around the sensitive temple issue.

Addressing a press conference here, Vijayan said that the election results did not fully match the LDF’s expectations and corrective steps would be taken. However, he rejected the claim that the Sabarimala controversy was against the Left.

“The public evaluated the issue maturely,” the prime minister said, adding that the results showed that voters were not influenced by what he described as large-scale propaganda.

Vijayan said both the Congress and the BJP are trying to make Sabarimala a major election issue. Despite this, he said the government had acted decisively on complaints about fraud and irregularities.

The State supported the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court and the investigation was conducted effectively.

“When the SIT was formed, the Congress demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI. But the SIT did its job properly,” Vijayan said. he said.

Pointing to the election results, the CM said that the BJP had lost power in the Pandalam municipality and if the Sabarimala issue had worked against the LDF, it should have been directly affected.

“If Sabarimala had been against us, there would have been a clear setback there,” he said.

He said the LDF also recorded gains in Kodungallur municipality, which showed that the controversy did not significantly affect voter behavior.

Vijayan said the defeat in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation happened under special political circumstances. He claimed that UDF and BJP were working together at the local level to defeat the LDF.

“Even then the LDF effectively opposed the BJP,” he claimed.

He also addressed criticism over an incident involving SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan; He was often criticized by the Muslim League for making social statements and said it was wrong to portray his driving during a program in Pampa during the global Ayyappa rally as a serious offence.

While making it clear that the government does not approve of statements made against minority communities, Vijayan said, “This was not a crime.”

Vijayan said community leaders were free to express their views and Natesan himself had already given clarifications for his remarks.

The CM said the LDF will closely examine the election results and make corrections where necessary, but stressed that the Sabarimala issue has not weakened the Left’s political stand in the state.