Sabarimala row offers Opposition yet another ‘gold(en) opportunity’ to corner LDF

In 2018, a video clip of PS Sreedharan Pillai, the then Kerala BJP president, went viral. Addressing the Yuvamorcha workers in Kozhikode amid the raging protests against the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of menstruating age to enter the Sabarimala temple, Pillai was caught on camera saying that the Sabarimala agitation was a “golden opportunity” for the party. The phrase became shorthand for the BJP’s attempt to turn a religious controversy into political mobilisation.

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Seven years later, the same shrine is again at the centre of Kerala’s political storm, and the Opposition appears to be seizing yet another “golden opportunity.” This time, the issue is not about women’s entry but about the alleged disappearance of gold-platings and coverings from the temple’s dwarapalaka idols, a scandal that has triggered widespread outrage and given both the Congress-led UDF and the BJP an opening to attack the ruling LDF.

From sanctum to scandal

What began as murmurs on social media over the alleged irregularities in the gold plating of the temple’s sanctum and sculptures has now snowballed into a full-blown political controversy.

The Kerala High Court, taking suo motu cognisance of media reports, directed the state to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the missing gold. The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the shrine, and the state devaswom department have both come under scrutiny.

Back in 2018, the Sabarimala issue had galvanised the BJP and parts of the UDF into large-scale street protests, with the ruling LDF accused of trampling on faith. Now, as gold turns into the new metaphor, both Opposition blocs are framing the controversy as evidence of the government’s corruption and moral decline.

Transparency claims spark doubt

Devaswom Minister VN Vasavan has sought to contain the fallout, insisting that the government itself uncovered the irregularities. “It was when the Global Ayyappa Conclave was underway with huge acceptance that someone came forward alleging that the dwarapalakas of Sabarimala were missing,” Vasavan said.

“Interestingly, it came from nowhere. But the government was determined to find the truth and subsequently found the bases of them at the very person Unnikrishnan Potty’s sister’s house. It was the Devaswom Vigilance that found this and other irregularities. When the court took suo motu cognisance, the government asserted its position for a thorough investigation, and the court ordered an SIT probe. We are a government determined to find the culprits and show them the full weight of the law. No one will be spared.”

Vasavan’s statement tries to frame the controversy as a case of proactive governance and transparency. But the Opposition isn’t buying it. Both the UDF and the BJP accuse the government of attempting to downplay what they call a “loot of divine wealth.”

UDF mounts faith offensive

For the Congress-led UDF, the scandal has arrived as a timely reprieve at a moment when the front has been battling internal troubles, from sexual harassment allegations against former Youth Congress president and MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil to questions over the misuse of funds collected for Wayanad’s post-disaster rehabilitation.

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In an attempt to reclaim the political narrative, the UDF has launched a series of press meets, dharnas, and prayer gatherings across temple towns, and “faith protection” rallies have already begun, with a larger mobilisation planned to converge at Pandalam, near Sabarimala, on October 18.

AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, while addressing the “Faith Protection Conclave”, a protest rally, lashed out at the state government, declaring, “If you make it difficult for gods and devotees, this will be our mobilisation; lakhs of people from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will join hands with us.”

“The government is in the dock and they cannot get away with looting the wealth of Lord Ayyappa. Whoever loots God’s wealth will face the curse as a consequence. The resignation of the Devaswom Minister is a must,” added the Alappuzha MP.

BJP revives Sabarimala playbook

For the BJP, which had used the 2018 women’s entry agitation to expand its influence among Ayyappa devotees and Hindu groups, the gold scandal has revived an emotive issue it knows well. New state BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar has accused the LDF government of “systemic plunder” and demanded a probe by central agencies.

“The government is solely responsible for the loot happening at Sabarimala,” Chandrasekhar said. “We will fight it till the end. We demand an investigation by central agencies. The Devaswom Board should be dismantled and temple administration should be given to the faithful.”

Party functionaries are already drawing parallels between the gold-plating irregularities and the 2018 agitation, arguing that both expose the Left’s “antagonism” toward faith.

Faith turns political battleground

The timing is particularly challenging for the LDF. With local body elections scheduled for next month, Assembly elections looming in early 2026, and the Sabarimala pilgrimage season commencing shortly, the government is under mounting pressure from both the Opposition and the devotees.

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What makes the Sabarimala controversy particularly potent is its emotional register. Allegations of missing gold strike directly at the devotional core of the temple’s identity. For many devotees, the idea that the wealth offered to Lord Ayyappa could be misused is a far deeper betrayal than administrative failure. The Opposition knows this and is framing its campaign in precisely those moral terms.

Meanwhile, the LDF is struggling to shift the discourse back to procedure and investigation. Party insiders admit that the “optics are bad,” recalling how in 2018 the narrative quickly slipped from law-and-order enforcement to perceived sacrilege.

The saga underlines a recurring pattern in the recent Kerala politics; every few years, Sabarimala, one of the state’s most revered and inclusive shrines, becomes the epicentre of partisan warfare. Whether the controversy is about women’s entry or missing gold, the basic grammar remains unchanged, with faith, sentiment, and suspicion combining to produce a combustible political mix.