The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretariat on Friday recommended the reconstitution of the arguably beleaguered Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), seemingly bedevilled by the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple gold-plated panel misappropriation scandal, ahead of the Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season commencing in mid-November.
The CPI(M) move assumes political significance amid the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bid to exploit the controversy to stoke public indignation against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the run-up to the local body polls and the Assembly elections in 2026.
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan denied that the decision aimed to blunt opposition criticism in the crucial election year. “The TDB’s term has ended. It is legally untenable for TDB president P. Prasanth to continue in the post. There is no need to read any hidden meanings into the decision,” he said.
Mr. Govindan denied that the government had backpedalled from issuing an ordinance to extend the term of the TDB, fearing that Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar would turn it down.
(Notably, BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar had written to Mr. Arlekar requesting him to decline any such request, given the scandals dogging the TDB.)
