Amid political storm in Sabarimala, Left set for counter campaign

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Six years after the Sabarimala protest that unsettled the LDF during the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the hill shrine has once again become the centre of a political storm on the eve of local body polls in the state. With the UDF and the BJP targeting the ruling Left over Sabarimala fiasco, the LDF is all set to launch a counter campaign. At the ground level, the CPM is feeling the heat of the gold theft conspiracy with both opposition fronts accusing the former of trying to shield the real culprits. The CPM has decided to come out in the coming days to defend the government. A detailed campaign is being planned with various measures such as public meetings and house visits. The party state leadership will stand by its declared position that the party would not protect the guilty. Though the CPM leadership and the LDF government have chosen to distance themselves from the gold theft incident, the arrests of former TDB presidents N Vasu and A Padmakumar, have put them on the defensive. We have nothing to hide, said a CPM state secretariat member. The chief minister and the state secretary have said that those who are responsible will be brought to justice. The position taken by the government and the party that the Left would not interfere in the probe or protect the guilty has sent out a message among the masses that we have nothing to hide, he said. It is the responsibility and liability of the accused to prove their innocence. Our cadres would explain this position to the public, he added. The Congress and BJP have already made the overcrowding at Sabarimala, and the High Court remarks a central theme in their campaigns. Both parties see an opportunity to polarise Hindu majority votes, similar to the 2018-19 Sabarimala protest, said political analyst Ajith Sreenivasan. If the CPM fails to find a way out of the situation, it may face setbacks in the upcoming polls, he added.