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Thiruvananthapuram, 8 October (IANS) Leader of Opposition in Kerala Legislative Assembly, VD Satisan said on Wednesday that former Devaswom ministers Kadkampalli Surendran and CPI (M) should tell who bought the gold plates of the Gatekeeper of the Sabarimala temple.
The opposition leader on Wednesday alleged, “The idol was sold to a billionaire, the doors and wooden stairs were removed, and only the statue of Ayyappa remained. He was planned to remove it too.”
These allegations came in the Kerala Legislative Assembly amidst the hot deadlock, where opposition leaders accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of deliberately inciting the opposition and saving those involved in the alleged robbery of the temple property.
He claimed that the Chief Minister, who remained silent on the dispute for months, finally spoke in the manner of “favoring the robbers”.
The controversy revolves around the allegations that the gatekeeper of the temple was sold to a billionaire and the gold layer on the idol was chemically removed and replaced with copper.
Opposition leaders demanded transparency and accountability, including the resignation of Devaswom Minister VN Vasavan and dismissal of the Devaswom Board.
The protest that disrupted the assembly proceedings for three consecutive days increased further on Wednesday.
Underlining the political and religious sensitivity of the case, the opposition said, “The Chief Minister’s failure to take action against those allegedly looted the property of the temple is unacceptable. We will take this fight forward with even more intensity.”
Later, Satisan in his speech criticized CM Vijayan for mentioning a small height person.
“Does the Chief Minister have malice from the small height? Why should people with small height be targeted?”
The opposition described it as body shaming and politically wrong.
He demanded that the Chief Minister withdraw the comment, apologize and remove the comment from the assembly records.
The opposition said that such comments have been made repeatedly by Vasavan.
Taking a sarcasm at the oldest party, Vasavan said that the Congress, which was once as big as Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, has now become as big as Mollywood actor Indrans.
Satisan said, “However, Indras is a respected actor. Vasavan later withdrew his comment and apologized. Similarly, the opposition said that the Chief Minister should apologize for ridiculing the short stature.”
He said, “Parliamentary Affairs Minister MB Rajesh had also commented on Congress MLA Uma Thomas. Rajesh said that Uma Thomas was being used as a shield by UDF. The opposition demanded that those comments be withdrawn. He stressed that neither the Chief Minister nor the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs should make such statements about the health of Uma Thomas.”
The opposition described these comments as old and regressive and questioned in which century these leaders are living.
Satisan said, “Those who claim to be progressive are making such statements today. Does the Chief Minister have the measuring measuring the measuring that a person’s stature should be?
-IANS
SG/SVN