Sabarimala Gold Theft Row: BJP Yuva Morcha Stages Protest Against Kerala CM Over Alleged Temple Loot, Corruption

Sabarimala Temple Gold Theft: Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, took out a march against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram on Monday over the alleged theft of gold from the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple.

BJP State President Rajeev Chandrasekhar led the march.

Sharing an X post, Kerala BJP wrote, "Yuva Morcha's @BJYM4Keralam protest is a flame against the communist government that puts fire in the hearts of devotees!"

"The spirit of Sabarimala burns bright! @BJYM4Keralam marches with devotion and defiance against the Left's temple loot and corruption," Kerala BJP wrote, sharing a visual from the protest.

The missing gold has sparked a political row in Kerala, where the BJP is accusing the State government of corruption.

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Earlier, the BJP leader V Muraleedharan slammed the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led government in Kerala for attempting to suppress public protests over the gold theft row.

Speaking to reporters, Muraleedharan said, "The government is suppressing the protests over the Sabarimala robbery... The march to the office of the Devaswom Minister today in Kottayam was met by the CPI(M) by resorting to strong-arm tactics and unleashing an attack on the participants of that agitation."

He further alleged that the state government was evading questions raised by devotees and instead using force to silence dissent. "This approach of the government shows that they have no answer to the questions being raised by the devotees... Instead of replying, they are trying to silence and attack those who have resorted to protest," he said.

Meanwhile, the Travancore Devaswom Vigilance, in a detailed report submitted to the Kerala High Court, has exposed a web of serious procedural violations, unauthorised interventions, and suspicious financial dealings surrounding the gold plating of the Dwarapalaka idols and copper panels at the Sabarimala Sreekovil temple.

According to the report, Unnikrishnan Potti, who has no stable income or declared business background, acted as an intermediary in several renovation and offering-related works at Sabarimala, despite not being the actual sponsor for many of them. The vigilance findings make it clear that several temple works attributed to Potti were in fact financed by other private individuals, including businessmen from Bellary and Bengaluru.

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The report states that the gold plating of the damaged main door of the Sreekovil was sponsored by one Govardhan, a businessman from Bellary, while the plating of the copper sheets on the roof (Kattilla) was funded by Aji Kumar, a Malayali entrepreneur settled in Bengaluru.

"Potti acted merely as a middleman, facilitating the deals and using his proximity to the Devaswom administration to exercise undue influence," the report stated.

(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by The Daily Jagran staff and has been published through syndicated feed by ANI.)