Sabarimala gold plating row: Opposition disrupts Assembly again, demands minister's resignation

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition MLAs in Kerala disrupted Assembly proceedings for a second day on Tuesday, demanding the resignation of state Devaswom minister over alleged irregularities linked to the gold-clad copper plates at the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple. Though Speaker A N Shamseer initially tried to proceed with the question hour, ignoring the UDF MLAs' uproar, he later suspended it and temporarily stopped the session as the UDF members continued their sloganeering, raising banners and placards in front of his podium. As soon as the session commenced and Speaker A N Shamseer came to his dais, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan stood up and raised the High Court's findings in connection with the alleged irregularities. Stating that the judiciary's findings were "shocking", he said the gold covering of Dwarapalaka idols in Sabarimala had been sold at a high rate, according to the High Court.

Through this, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the temple body which manages the shrine, has not only disrupted the sanctity of Sabarimala Temple but also cheated lakhs of devotees of Lord Ayyappa, he alleged. "Therefore, our strong demand is that the Devaswom Minister should resign and the TDB should be dissolved. And the government should announce the decision right now," Satheesan said. However, Law Minister P Rajeev and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh vehemently criticised the opposition and alleged that their continuing protest was a drama. "The government has already welcomed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe ordered by the High Court in this regard. The stand taken by the LoP is that he won't even accept the honourable court," he alleged. The minister also alleged that the opposition were trying to disrupt the Assembly proceedings for their "narrow political gains". Rajesh also slammed the UDF over the protest and said they were scared of the judiciary, Assembly, debates and people and the protest in the House was "proof for that". Though the Speaker repeatedly asked the agitating opposition MLAs to go back to their seats, they didn't heed. "The government is ready for a debate on the matter. The SIT has already been formed. Then why are you protesting?" Shamseer asked. Later, he announced that the question hour was suspended and the session would be resumed after some time. The Assembly was adjourned on Monday also following opposition uproar in the Sabarimala row. The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the formation of an SIT to investigate alleged irregularities related to the reduced weight of gold-clad copper plates on the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols at Sabarimala. A bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar ordered the constitution of the SIT after the TDB Vigilance team submitted an interim report on its preliminary investigation into the matter. The High Court had recently directed the TDB Vigilance to probe the reduced weight of the Dwarapalaka idols after they were sent to a Chennai-based firm for electroplating, a project sponsored by businessman Unnikrishnan Potty in 2019.