Thiruvananthapuram: BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has called the Ayyappa Sangamam organised by the state government a “political drama”. Speaking at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, he questioned who Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was trying to fool by saying the Ayyappa Sangamam should not be seen as political.

If the Ayyappa Sangamam is not political, then what is it? If it is not political, why did the Devaswom Board chairman have to go to Chennai? Why was M K Stalin invited to the Sangamam? Since when has Stalin been a devotee of Lord Ayyappa? This is politics, and that is how people perceive it. This is a political drama staged just four months before the assembly elections, said Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

The Chief Minister said the Ayyappa Sangamam is not a government programme, but one organised by the Devaswom Board. If the Devaswom Board is conducting the Sangamam, let it proceed. The Devaswom Board has failed to provide basic facilities to devotees at Sabarimala for 10 years; if they are organising the Ayyappa Sangamam ahead of elections, let them do so. Stalin, who called Hinduism a virus, and Pinarayi, who harassed Ayyappa devotees, should not attend because it is an insult, the BJP said. If it is not a government event, then why did the Chief Minister speak about it? Shouldn't the Devaswom Board chairman held the press conference? Rajeev Chandrasekhar questioned.

Responding to criticisms raised against him by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Wednesday’s press conference, Rajeev Chandrasekhar replied. “Yesterday, the Chief Minister said Rajeev Chandrasekhar knows nothing about Kerala and nothing about the state. I am not a political expert; I have common sense. I am a hard-working person who understands the problems of the people of Kerala and a believer in Hinduism. I have no desire to become an expert like the Chief Minister. I do not want to read and study Karl Marx or Das Kapital to become a Communist intellectual,” Rajeev added.