Local body elections certain to be decisive
THE results of the upcoming local body elections and next year's assembly election will show how seriously Kerala voters have taken the Sabarimala issue to their hearts.
Opposition parties are using the scandal as a powerful campaign weapon ahead of the December local body elections.
With elections covering nearly 1,200 local bodies, the gold theft issue could once again determine Kerala's political landscape.
Polling on December 9 will cover Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam, while the second phase on December 11 will include Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod.
Counting will take place on December 13. Elections will be held in 1,199 local bodies -- covering 23,576 wards -- with 33,746 polling stations, 1,37,922 ballot units and 50,691 control units.
The Sabarimala gold theft controversy erupted in September after the Special Commissioner informed the Kerala High Court that the gold plating on the Dwarapalaka sculptures flanking the sanctum sanctorum was removed and transported to Chennai without judicial approval.
According to the Commissioner’s report, the High Court had earlier mandated that all gold-related works at the shrine be undertaken only at the Sannidhanam and strictly under court-appointed supervision.
The deviation, the report noted, amounted to a serious lapse in protocol.
The Kerala High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the misappropriation of gold-plated copper casings covering the sculptures and stone carvings at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader A. Padmakumar, former TDB commissioner and later TDB president N. Vasu, former administrative officer Murari Babu, former executive officer D. Sudheesh Kumar, ex-Thiruvabharanam Commissioner K.S. Baiju and former temple priest Unnikrishnan Potti.
Officials say the SIT has reportedly indicted Padmakumar mainly for “bequeathing” an undue financial benefit to the prime accused, Potti, in 2019, by presiding over the “wilful miscategorisation” of the gilded panels as made of pure copper before entrusting them to the personal custody of the main suspect, ostensibly for restoring them to their original golden shine.
The ruling CPI(M) says the Left Democratic Front has no worries, as the front is focusing on development and welfare initiatives, and asserts that the government has taken a firm stand against all forms of wrongdoing.
Strict action is being taken against officials involved in criminal activities. The LDF is not concerned about the issue, since the government has acted decisively to bring offenders to justice and recover what has been lost.
Congress claims the polls will serve as a referendum on the Pinarayi Vijayan government’s nine-and-a-half-year rule, marked by corruption, mismanagement and an assault on public faith.
Let’s wait and see what the people’s stand is.
