BJP opposes Sabarimala gag order

The BJP in Kerala has strongly objected to the Kerala chief electoral officer's caution against using the Sabarimala women entry row with communal agendas during the electioneering.

BJP leader and former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan said on Tuesday that a complaint would be sent to the Election Commission against Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena in this regard.

The issue will figure at a meeting of political party representatives convened by Meena on Wednesday. Though the meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, it was postponed.

Kummanam, the most probable BJP candidate for Thiruvananthapuram, said that the BJP will raise Sabarimala issue during the election campaign not for communal polarisation but for highlighting the freedom of worship.

BJP state general secretary K Surendran had also flayed Meena's advisory restricting parties from using Sabarimala as an issue to seek electoral gains.

The BJP has been pinning high hopes of improving poll prospects in Kerala with a Hindu consolidation over the Sabarimala issue.