BJP’s Sreedharan Pillai claims he advised Sabarimala tantri to close shrine to block women’s entry

Thiruvananthapuram: Former BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai has claimed that the decision to close the shrine at Sabarimala Sree Ayyappa Temple in 2018 to prevent women’s entry was taken on his advice. The claim appears in his new book, ‘Sabarimala Samaravum Suvarna Avasara Vidhiyum’. He states that Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru decided to shut the temple doors based on the assurance he had given.

Sreedharan Pillai writes that he was instructed to contact the tantri when activist Rehana Fathima arrived at Sannidhanam under police protection. Sreedharan Pillai says he offered legal advice to the tantri at the request of a prominent Hindu community leader, who asked him to convince the tantri that closing the shrine and conducting purification rituals would not amount to contempt of court.

According to the book, during his conversation with the tantri, Sreedharan Pillai assured him that since the Supreme Court verdict did not specifically mention prohibiting the closure of the shrine, it would not constitute contempt of court. He also conveyed that if arrests were made over the issue, he and lakhs of devotees were prepared to face them. The book claims that this assurance gave the tantri the confidence to shut the temple and conduct purification rites when Rehana Fathima approached the temple precincts.

In the book, Sreedharan Pillai describes the episode as a “golden opportunity” entrusted to him to carry out Lord Ayyappa’s will. He also claimed that his interventions, both as BJP state president and as a lawyer, proved decisive in the developments at Sabarimala at the time.