Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said women of all age groups should be allowed to enter the Sabarimala temple, a remark that was at variance with the stand taken by his party's Kerala unit and which created ripples in the southern state.
Gandhi, however, acknowledged that his opinion is different from that of his party on the "emotional issue" after the Supreme Court last month lifted the ban on entry of women of menstrual age to the hilltop shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Kerala.
"It is a very emotional issue and my personal thinking on the matter is different from my party's Kerala unit," Gandhi told a select group of journalists in Indore in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
"My personal view point on the issue of Sabarimala temple is that men and women are equal. All women should get permission to enter into the temple. However, my party's Kerala unit's view is that it is a very emotional issue for both men and women, he said.
"Therefore, my personal opinion and my party's Kerala unit's thinking is different on the matter. My party represents the feeling of Kerala's natives on the issue," he added.
The remarks by Gandhi came on a day when hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party workers staged a "hunger strike" in front of the state police chief's office in Thiruvananthapuram protesting the Left Democratic Front government's decision to implement the Supreme Court order that allowed entry of girls and women of all age groups to the shrine and also the police crackdown on the protesters.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan welcomed Gandhi's statement and flayed the state unit saying it was 'unfortunate' that the Congress in the state was not in sync with the its national leadership on the Sabarimala issue.
"It is unfortunate that the Congress in Kerala does not have the same opinion as that of the party's national leadership on the subject," he said in a facebook post.
A section of Congress leaders were adopting a 'conservative' approach on the issue which would only help the BJP, the chief minister said.
Chennithala, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, asserted that the Congress and the party-led United Democratic Front in the state were with the believers of Lord Ayyappa who want the ban on entry of girls and women in the menstruating age group to be restored.
"AICC chief has given permission to take that stand," he told reporters in Kozhikode, adding Gandhi's views on Sabarimala were his personal opinion.
Chennithala also said there was no "confusion" in the party over the Sabarimala issue and that Gandhi had not disowned the state Congress's stand on the matter.
In an embarrassment to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, veteran Marxist leader and former LDF convenor M M Lawrence's grandson took part in the BJP's agitation.
BJP national president Amit Shah, who was in Kerala on October 27, had extended the party's full support to those protesting the entry of women of all ages into the shrine.
The hill temple had witnessed high drama between October 17 and 22 when it was open for monthly puja as around a dozen women in the 'barred' 10-50 age group were prevented by the protesting devotees from reaching it.
The BJP has also announced it would take out a 'Rath Yatra' from Kasaragod to Pathnamthitta district, where the Sabarimala temple is located, from November 8 to 13 to "save the customs and traditions" of the hill shrine.
Meanwhile, Police Tuesday opened online booking service for devotees to have darshan at Sabarimala during the annual three-month-long pilgrim season beginning on November 17.
The online booking is part of the police force's crowd control plans, official sources said.
Devotees can select the date and time of darshan from the calender displayed in the website.
Those who book online will also get the to-and-fro tickets of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses, which operate services from Nilackal, a base camp, to Pamba on the foothills of Sabarimala, police said.
President of Travancore Devaswom Board, which administers the shrine, A.Padmakumar said arrangements for the upcoming pilgrim season were progressing well.
Police have planned to beef up security in and around Sabarimala temple and the base camps when the shrineopens for a day on November 5 for a special puja.
