Kerala's Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who is in charge of the management of temples and to ensure their smooth operation in the state, hit out at Congress on Thursday alleging that there is no difference between the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress in the state.
Referring to the Sabarimala issue, he said that the Congress is also playing vote bank politics like BJP in the country.
"Both state government and the people in Kerala know that all protests which occurred in connection with Sabarimala temple entry are politically motivated. In a race to win, the Congress had forgotten its own standards and ideologies", said the minister.
He also alleged that Congress party's stance on the Sabarimala issue is nothing but a step taken to gain votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and this will disrupt the secularism in the state.
Reiterating state government's stand, he said that Supreme Court order allowing the entry of women of all ages in the holy shrine will be implemented.
"All those people who believe in secularism would wish to see Congress coming into power at the Centre. But, what has Congress done in Kerala? When the Sabarimala issue erupted, it was the Congress party that initiated the hunger strike in Pathanamthitta before anyone else. The BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) jumped into the scene imitating them. Isn't that the truth?", the senior leader lashed out at Congress.
Section 144 that prohibits assembly of more than four people in an area has been extended till midnight of December 8 in Sabarimala.
The Sabarimala temple and surrounding areas witnessed a string of protests recently over the Supreme Court's September 28 order that lifted the ban on the entry of women between the age group of 10 to 50 years inside the Lord Ayyappa temple.
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