Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: All fingers crossed over Sabarimala issues as polls approach

Thiruvanthapuram: While the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple women entry and gold heist remain as live issues during this Assembly elections in Kerala, the curious question doing the rounds is whether the Congress-led United Democratic Front or the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will benefit from it.

Even as the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) did a damage control bid by changing its earlier progressive stand that the ban on entry of women in the 10-50 age group should be lifted, it is still not firm on its stand that the ban should continue.

A couple of CPM leaders, including a former MLA, were arrested in the gold heist. The alleged irregularities over the conduct of Global Ayyappa Sangamam too makes Sabarimala a crucial  factor for LDF in the elections.

There seems to be differences within the BJP-NDA over giving too much hype to the Sabarimala issues. BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been reiterating that the BJP-NDA could be giving more thrust to development needs of the state during the election campaign, rather than other controversies.

But BJP senior leader and former Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan, who is contesting from Aranmula in Pathanamthitta, says that Sabarimala remains at a key issue in which both the LDF and the UDF were facing allegations pertaining to the gold heist.

Some NDA candidates of Pathanamthitta district, where Sabarimala is situated, were also stating that the focus should be on development issues.

Both the Congress and the BJP claim that only they could genuinely protect faiths and beliefs over the temple.

Meanwhile, the LDF camps point out that in the recent local body election the BJP lost the Pandalam municipality in Pathanamthitta, where the LDF gained.

Political analyst and senior journalist Jacob George is of the view that Sabarimala issues almost became a non issue and that could be the reason why the BJP is not giving too much focus on it now. Hence the Congress is also unlikely to make gains from the Sabarimala issue anymore, he said.

However, there is also counter interpretation that the BJP could be fearing that too much hype to the Sabarimala issue may benefit the UDF as was seen in the 2020 Lok Sabha elections.

Since the Sabarimala issue triggers anti-LDF sentiments, both the UDF and BJP could gain from it. But since the UDF is the main opposition party in Kerala, the UDF may get more benefit from it rather than the BJP, says political analyst J Prabhash.