THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The UDF has decided not to overplay the Sabarimala gold plate row, opting instead for a calibrated response, unlike its aggressive stance during the Sabarimala agitation after the Supreme Court order permitted women of all ages to enter the shrine.
Though the UDF liaison committee meeting held on Tuesday endorsed the protest programme and four padayatras (foot marches) across the state announced by Congress, UDF’s role has been minimised to a day’s programme. UDF leaders will join the four padayatras of Congress at Chengannur on October 18 and from there they will march to Pandalam.
At the meeting, the leadership came to the conclusion that being a sensitive issue of faith, the front should tread carefully. The leaders also opined that Sabarimala is a shrine attached to lakhs of believers and any attempt to politicise the issue will backfire.
“The state leadership will give instructions to the lowest level about the way they should handle the subject and what should be said about it and what should not be,” a leader told TNIE. The UDF will be focusing on exposing the corruption and lapses by the TDB and the LDF government.
The front leaders also cautioned not to allow it to assume a communal dimension. “The UDF will handle the subject only at the micro level considering the fact that it is a sentimental issue of people who consider Sabarimala as sacred. We will project it as the state government’s corruption,” another leader said.