Won't cooperate with House proceedings till Devaswom minister resigns, says UDF in Kerala Assembly

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 8 (PTI) Congress-led UDF opposition in Kerala on Wednesday announced in the Assembly that they will not cooperate with the House proceedings until the Devaswom minister resigns over alleged irregularities linked to the reduced weight of gold-plated coverings on 'Dwarapalaka' idols at the Sabarimala temple.

They also staged a protest in the Well of the House with placards and a banner raising slogans during the question hour, for the third consecutive day.

As the session commenced, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan alleged that the Dwarapalaka idols of the Lord Ayyappa temple were taken away and sold outside.

"So, our decision is not to co-operate with the House proceedings until Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan resigns and members of the Travancore Devaswom Board are ousted," he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh questioned the opposition's stand and sought to know why they were not showing "courage" to give a notice for discussion on the matter.

The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the formation of an SIT to investigate alleged irregularities related to the reduced weight of gold-clad copper plates of the guardian deity idols at Sabarimala. The weight reduction was revealed during the proceedings in court in connection with the claddings being again sent for gold-plating this year, but without informing the High Court.

During the proceedings, it was found that when the claddings were last taken out of the Lord Ayyappa shrine for gold-plating in 2019, there was a reduction in their weight by around 4.5 kg, which had not been reported by the Devaswom officials.

Last week, the court had ordered a comprehensive inventory of all valuables, including gold, at the Sabarimala temple under the supervision of retired Justice K T Sankaran. PTI LGK KH