THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Seemingly under pressure, Travancore Dewaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar has backtracked from his earlier stance on filing a review petition in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to enter Sabarimala. The change in stance comes after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed dissatisfaction over his statement.
On Sunday, Padmakumar had told the media that the board is exploring the possibility of moving a review petition against the apex court’s judgment. Speaking to Express, Padmakumar said: “The CM told me that I should have taken care before speaking about the review petition as meeting the media immediately after coming out of the CM’s meeting would give a wrong impression that I had consulted him on the same.”
“The board meeting to be held on October 3 will have a detailed take on the review petition. Moreover, we have not yet received the full text of the judgment,” he said. He said he had met the Pandalam royal family and discussed the matter. On the Bharathiya Janata Yuva Morcha members waving black flags at him in Pandalam, Padmakumar said, “They should have waved black flags at BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai and not me.”