Sabarimala row: Oppn wants special Assembly session

The Kerala unit of the BJP has urged the CPM-led state government to convene a special session of the Legislative Assembly and recommend to the Centre promulgation of an ordinance in connection with the entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years to the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple.

BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai’s call, on Sunday, for the special session comes amid a debate on taking responsibility in initiating action, in the wake of the Supreme Court order which allowed entry of women of all ages to the temple. The BJP had initially maintained that the Centre was not in a position to promulgate the ordinance.

Leader of the Congress-led Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the onus was on the Centre to bring in the ordinance to nullify the apex court’s order. CPM Politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai said the state government was committed to implementing the Supreme Court judgement and the protesters were, in effect, asking the government to defy the Constitution.

The three-way political face-off over the Sabarimala issue has played out on familiar lines since the September 28 court verdict.

The calls for a review petition against the judgement, a plank initially used by the Congress and the BJP against the government, have ended after the Travancore Devaswom Board refused to commit on the demand.