Sabarimala gold row: UDF, BJP step up demand for sacking of Devaswom minister

KOchi: The oppositeness Congress-led UDF stepped up its exact for the surrender of Kerala’s temple affairs (devaswom) government minister VN Vasavan and the Travancore Devaswom room (TDB) president PS Prasanth in the light of the recent High Court observations in the Sabarimala gold pilferage case.The HC division bench on Tuesday had raised the suspicion that top officials of the TDB may have colluded to conceal the misappropriation of gold from the gold-cladded plates covering the ‘Dwarapalaka’ (door guardian) sculptures of the Sabarimala temple based on the preliminary report filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The court said that Unnikrishnan Potty, the main accused, was wrongfully allowed by TDB officials to retain around 409 grams of gold extracted from the side frames of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Despite being fully aware of it, the Board did not do anything to recover the gold, the HC underlined.Also Read | Key accused in Sabarimala gold theft case held, says probe teamOn Wednesday, Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan said the UDF’s allegations against the LDF government and the TDB regarding the gold theft case were vindicated by the High Court.“The Thiruvabharana Commissioner had sent a letter on July 30 advising the Board not to take the gold plates outside the temple premises and that the Chennai-based agency could not be trusted. On August 8, the same commissioner took a U-turn and said the plates can be handed to Potty. It is clear that the current TDB president intervened to force the commissioner to take a different position. If the HC had not intervened, the gold plates taken out for renovation in 2025 would have been sold too,” Satheesan alleged.Also Read | Sabarimala gold row: Accused misappropriated 2 kg from deity idols, claims SIT report“It is clear that the current Devaswom minister and the TDB council have involvement in the gold theft. It is essential that the minister resigns and expel the current TDB council,” he added.The BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar also reiterated that Vasavan resign in the backdrop of the revelations in the case.Prasanth denied that the current council intervened to hand over the gold-cladded plates to Potty.“The court’s observations in this regard are unfortunate. We will ask the standing counsel to approach the court over this and clarify our position. In the four orders that the TDB has issued since 2024, we have not stated that the gold plates be handed to Potty directly or indirectly,” he said.