Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam General Secretary Vellapally Natesan on Tuesday gave a clean chit to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the Sabarimala issue but faulted both the Congress and the BJP.
The SNDP is a socio-cultural body of the Hindu Ezhava community in Kerala. Vellapally of late has become a strong supporter of Vijayan and has been attacking the Congress strongly.
"The Kerala government has no role in taking women to the Sabarimala temple. They only obeyed the Supreme Court orders," he told the media in Kollam.
"The meeting by the Ayyappa Sangamam (held in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday) was organised by elitist Hindus. These elitists find it difficult to accept communities like ours," he added.
Vellapally also came down heavily on the Nair Service Society (NSS), the body of the Hindu Nair community, the Pandalam royal family and the Sabarimala thantri.
"All the trouble that was witnessed in the Sabarimala temple town since the September 28 SC verdict (which allowed entry to all women) is the creation of these three.
"The Kerala government has no role in creating any issues there," said Vellapally, adding that the biggest loser in the entire controversy would be the Congress.
"If you look at the employees of Devasvom Boards (the body managing temples in the state), 95 per cent belong to elitist Hindu groups. They do not give space to backward Hindus. The Sunday meeting was meant to consolidate their position," he said.
Meanwhile, the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala temple officially closed after the two month long Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival. The temple’s major annual pilgrimage season concluded on Saturday after the Guruti ritual.
This was the first Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season since the controversial Supreme Court ruling on September 28, 2018 allowing women of all ages to enter into Sabarimala temple. The temple had opened for the pilgrimage season on November 15, 2018.
With IANS inputs