THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sensing an opportunity to politically corner the Left, which has been basking in the glory of the global Ayyappa meet, the Congress is planning to take up the gold plate row in a big way.
Determined to trigger a debate over the gold plate row, the Congress will hold a protest meeting called ‘Prathishedha Jyothi’ in Pathanamthitta on October 9. The event, where the party plans to rally the believers, will be inaugurated by AICC general secretary K C Venugopal. The party plans to organise similar protest meets in other parts of the state too.
KPCC president and MLA Sunny Joseph said in Kannur that the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president, who has failed to protect the properties of Sabarimala, is unfit to continue in the position.
He alleged that the gold plating at Sabarimala has been replaced with copper instead of gold, resulting in a loss worth crores of rupees. He further accused the government of taking a biased stance by shielding those involved in the wrongdoing instead of ensuring accountability. The ongoing investigation into the gold plate controversy is inadequate, he said, calling for a probe under the supervision of the High Court.
Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan has called for the immediate resignation of the devaswom minister and the TDB president, citing serious allegations of gold theft at Sabarimala.
At the inauguration of a public meeting organised by UDF district committee in Aluva on Saturday, Satheesan demanded a central agency probe under the supervision of the High Court to investigate the alleged misappropriation of gold donated by Ayyappa devotees. He raised questions about the handling of 30kg of gold donated by the UB Group, asking how much of it remains and why no probe was conducted into the reported shortfall.
He also questioned why the individual responsible for the alleged theft was invited back, accusing the TDB of engaging in fraudulent practices, as observed by the High Court. The event was chaired by UDF chairman Dominic Presentation, with UDF convener Adoor Prakash, MP, delivering the keynote address.
GLOBAL AYYAPPA SANGAMAM HELD TO CONCEAL MISUSE OF TEMPLE WEALTH: KC
ALAPPUZHA: AICC general secretary and Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal on Saturday alleged that the state government organised the Global Ayyappa Sangamam to conceal corruption and misuse of temple wealth. Inaugurating a special convention of the UDF in Alappuzha, Venugopal said the associates of businessman Vijay Mallya had clarified that the Dwarapalaka idol he donated was gold-plated. “It was during the tenure of the Pinarayi Vijayan government that the gold vanished and turned into copper,” he said. Referring to the recent controversy involving the Travancore Devaswom Board, he asked who ‘Unnikrishnan Potti’ was and how he became involved in temple affairs.