Left not against Sabarimala or its believers: CPI-M

In the wake of reverses suffered in the recent Lok Sabha election by Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), Kerala State CPI-M Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Tuesday said that the left parties are not against the Sabarimala temple or its believers.

The LDF in Kerala saw its tally come down from eight to just one seat, as the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 19 of the 20 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

Following this massive reversal, the LDF has begun a door-to-door campaign in an effort to regain political consensus.

Balakrishnan's comments made to the media on the Sabarimala issue of permitting women entry into the temple came on second day of LDF's door-to-door campaign of meeting people at their homes.

"What happened was the apex court verdict and some political parties made use of it. We have made it very clear we are not against Sabarimala or the believers. There have been some differences of opinion in the minds of the people on our stand. We will work to see that whatever differences of opinion the believers have, will be cleared," he said.

While soon after the Lok Sabha polls, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had asserted that the Sabarimala controversy did not affect the election results, last month, however, the CPI-M mouthpiece 'Deshabhimani' had said that the Sabarimala issue was one of the major reasons for the Left's poor show.

Also last month, the CPI-M at its national review meeting in Delhi acknowledged that the Sabarimala shrine controversy dented the party's prospectss in the general elections.

Following this, the Kerala unit of the CPI-M decided to conduct a statewide door-to- door oureach campaign, which began on Monday.