Row over arrest of Sabarimala Tantri escalates into political flashpoint ahead of Assembly polls

While the alleged gold scam at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple posed a political headache for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) ahead of the local body elections, the arrest and subsequent release of Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru, the chief priest and benefactor of the hill shrine, has evolved into a far more combustible controversy in the run-up to the Assembly polls.

When the Special Investigation Team (SIT) picked up the Tantri on January 10, the ruling front—particularly the CPI(M)—projected the move as evidence of institutional neutrality, asserting that no one is above the law. The optics, however, have shifted sharply. His release from jail, after the Kollam Vigilance court noted the absence of firm evidence at this stage, has opened space for a counter-narrative.

An argument portraying the arrest as political overreach against a widely revered religious figure is beginning to take shape. The Opposition, particularly the Congress and the BJP, has sensed an opportunity and is amplifying questions over why the arrest was made in the absence of concrete evidence. The controversy gained further traction after details from a bail petition surfaced in court, in which the Tantri himself alleged political vendetta.

Complicating matters further is the intervention of influential devotee networks such as the Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham (ABASS). Their entry shifts the debate from allegations of corruption to one of religious grievance—a terrain far more uncomfortable for the ruling Left. While Opposition parties have largely argued that the arrest was intended to deflect attention from the alleged role of former Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, the ABASS has revived memories of the 2018 women’s entry flashpoint, an episode the government would prefer to keep out of the electoral discourse.

That said, the political landscape today is not identical to that of 2018. The Nair Service Society (NSS), which spearheaded the Namajapa protests at the time, is no longer in confrontation mode with the government—a shift that significantly alters the potential scale of mobilisation. The CPI(M) appears to be banking on the assessment that, without NSS-led street mobilisation, public outrage may remain contained.

The biggest variable, however, lies in Pandalam. The royal palace, central to the Ayyappa tradition, has maintained a studied silence. In 2018, its vocal opposition to women’s entry energised conservative sentiment and indirectly contributed to the BJP’s rise in the Pandalam municipality. For the Left, that silence offers cautious hope that the issue may not snowball into an emotional wave. For the Opposition, however, it remains a potential opening that could widen if circumstances change.

“It is worth noting that the palace has remained largely silent since the women’s entry controversy, even during flashpoints such as the Global Ayyappa Sangamam and the protests that followed. But if it chooses to speak out now, it will certainly have an impact—at least across the Central Travancore belt, where traditions associated with Lord Ayyappa carry deep emotional resonance. And that impact, quite clearly, will not work in favour of the Left,” observed a senior Congress leader.