: Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State committee said the Congress has beaten a hasty retreat on the Sabarimala gold theft scandal after pictures of Sonia Gandhi with the main suspects in the case went viral on social and conventional media.
CPI(M) State Secretary, M.V. Govindan, said at a news conference held on Sunday (January 25, 2026) that Rahul Gandhi had reprimanded the Congress leadership in Kerala for dragging Ms. Gandhi’s name into the scandal by ill-advisedly seeking to weaponise the gold theft against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government during the local body campaign.
Sabarimala gold theft case: State’s stance helpful for accused, says V.D. Satheesan
“The incriminating photographs showed the prime accused in the case, Unnikrishnan Potti, and the person accused of receiving the temple’s stolen property flanking Ms. Gandhi at her Delhi residence, in the presence of two Congress MPs from Kerala. The incontrovertible evidence in the public domain has put Congress on the defensive”, he said.
Furthermore, Mr. Govindan said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe has revealed that the Congress-appointed Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) had opened the door for Mr. Potti to loot the temple in conjunction with the chief priest (tantri).
