THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: RSS state leadership will give wholehearted support to BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai in the party’s strategies on the Sabarimala issue. There were reports in a section of media that the RSS is not happy over the political stance taken by the BJP in shifting the Sabarimala agitation to the Secretariat.
Sreedharan Pillai told Express RSS does not interfere in the internal affairs of the BJP but in this case, the Sangh is fully supporting our moves and we have never said the agitations are over, instead the party has chalked out more and more agitations and we have got the full support and consent of the Sangh in this regard.”
A senior leader of the RSS who is coordinating the whole agitation of the Ayyappa Karma Samithi told ‘Express’ that the Sangh has thrown its weight behind the BJP state president and that the party is moving in the right direction. The recent High Court order appointing a three-member monitoring committee in the day-to-day affairs of the Sabarimala temple is one reason for the party shifting its agitation in front of the Secretariat as it does not want to rub on the wrong side with a committee appointed by the High Court.
BJP and RSS leaders have in a recent meeting decided to chalk out the finer points of the agitations and there is a general feeling that the party has done well in the field though the arrest of K Surendran is a dampener. However, the feeling is that the arrest and subsequent jail hopping of Surendran are not being likened by the people of the state, especially women.
The BJP leadership is also upbeat on the NSS not turning up to the meeting of social organisations called by the Chief Minister and that there is a major social churning happening in the background for the general good of the Hindu society which the party is closely monitoring. RSS All-India leader and Prajna Pravah national convenor J Nandakumar had recently called on NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair.
The open statement of Sukumaran Nair in support of Surendran is also seen by the party as an open endorsement to its line of thinking. It may be noted that Sreedharan Pillai is having an excellent rapport with Sukumaran Nair and the RSS leadership knows this relationship.
The RSS state leadership is also planning state-wide programmes during the ongoing Mandala-Makaravilakku season and conducting “Ayyappa Sabhas” and this will also be advantageous to the BJP.
A source in the RSS told Express: The RSS leadership is fully satisfied in the manner in which the BJP has taken the agitation forward and as a political party this is the maximum it can do.”