Thiruvananthapuram: BJP state president P. S. Sreedharan Pillai is at the receiving end following the violence that erupted at Nilakkal. He has also failed to force the LDF government to file a review petition in the Supreme Court though he had issued a 24-hour deadline to it on Monday.
The BJP and RSS leaders have been embarrassed by the charge that their supporters unleashed the violence against women journalists and women devotees at Nilakkal on Wednesday.
Mr. Sreedharan Pillai and other leaders observed a fast at Pathanamthitta against the LDF government's decision to implement the SC verdict.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced on Tuesday that the government will not file a review petition though Mr Sreedharan Pillai had served an ultimatum to him when the NDA’s long march concluded in front of the secretariat on Monday.
Later, BJP general secretary M. T. Ramesh told the media that the party leaders would fast at Nilakkal on Wednesday. Mr. Pillai condemned the police action against the partymen who reportedly attacked the women journalists and devotees.
BJP leader V. Muraleedharan MP asked the LDF government to shed its obstinacy on the issue and seek a compromise. “ The allegation that Sabarimala temple is being converted into yet another Ayodhya is baseless. Certain LDF ministers had claimed that there would be violent protests," he said.
BJP state general secretary K. Surendran refuted the allegation that the BJP and RSS were behind the violence and blamed the Ayyappa devotees for it.
“The CPM leadership had plotted to unleash the violence. The Ayyappa devotees did not act under the behest of the BJP and RSS,” he said.
There were unconfirmed reports that the BJP and RSS leaders were trying to bring in Hindu priests from Ayodhya to cash in on the situation at Sabarimala. BJP national president Amit Shah had also urged the state BJP leadership to take advantage of the situation in view of the coming Lok Sabha elections.
