BJP State President, P Sreedharan Pillai on Friday said that the party will strengthen its stand on the Sabarimala issue by beginning a protest outside the Kerala Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram from Monday onwards.

The protest which will go on for two weeks will see the party members from each of the 14 districts coming to the Secretariat to protest each day. Some of the demands that BJP will be putting forth during the protest will include lifting of restrictions in Sabarimala and strict action against the police officers for allegedly foisting false case on K Surendran, the General Secretary of the party.

The BJP state president said that the decision to shift the protest from Sabarimala to the Secretariat comes after women between ages 10 and 50 have stopped attempting to enter the shrine. “Only if women between these ages try to enter the temple, will we begin protesting at Sabarimala again. Now that some of the restrictions are lifted, we will receive backlash from the devotees (if protests inconvenience them),” said Sreedharan Pillai.

Reacting to this, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that he welcomes BJP’s decision to shift their protests to the Secretariat. “This decision by the BJP shows they have understood that the people have started to grasp the stand of the state government regarding the Sabarimala issue,” said Pinarayi Vijayan.

“It is not possible to stand straight if you take a stand that is not acceptable by the society,” said the CM.

Pinarayi Vijayan also stated that the cases filed against the BJP leaders were not because of the stand taken by the state government. “All of this is a part of implementing the law. There is no point of protesting demanding the withdrawal of the case,” said Pinarayi Vijayan, who went on to add that his office has nothing to do with the cases on K Surendran.

“There is nothing wrong in conducting protest in front of the Secretariat, but the BJP should introspect if the demands raised can be accepted," the CM said.