Controversy erupts over Kerala affidavit in SC

Controversy erupted in Kerala after the CPI(M)-led LDF government Friday submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming 51 women in menstrual age entered the Sabarimala temple during the ongoing annual pilgrimage season.

The BJP, the Sabarimala Karma Samiti and the Pandalam royal family, associated with the Lord Ayyappa temple, came down heavily on the state government saying there were discrepancies in the age of the women devotees mentioned in the affidavit.

This is the first time the government has stated that 51 women in the previously barred age group have entered the temple.

Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran Friday said here that 7,564 women had registered online for visiting the hill-top shrine.

"As per the virtual 'queue' facility reports, 51 women between the age group of 10-50 have visited the temple. However, we don't know whether all of them have managed to reach the Sannidhanam (temple complex) and offered prayers or not," he told reporters here.

Strongly reacting to the submission in the apex court, the main opposition Congress and the BJP hit out at the LDF government, alleging it was lying in the affidavit.

BJP state President P S Sreedharan Pillai termed the government's submission as "the biggest lie of the century."
The Congress also trained its guns on the LDF government, saying the state administration had became "a laughing stock after submitting erroneous and misguiding affidavit."