Sabarimala: Rahul's stand puts Congress leadership in Kerala in a spot

New Delhi: The statement or Rahul Gandhi in support of women's entry into Sabarimala has put the Kerala leadership of Congress in a predicament. Rahul said that personally he is in favour of women's entry. But he acknowledged that since the Congress sees it as an emotional issue, he accepts to it.

Rahul while answering queries by mediapersons in Indore during an interaction said, "It is a very emotional issue and my personal thinking on the matter is different from my party's Kerala unit."

"My personal view point on the issue of Sabarimala temple is that men and women are equal. All women should get permission to enter the temple. However, my party's Kerala unit's view is that it is a very emotional issue for both men and women, he said.

"Therefore, my personal opinion and my party's Kerala unit's thinking are different on the matter. My party represents the feeling of Kerala's natives on the issue," he added.

The Congress leadership in Kerala has been taking the position right from the beginning of the controversy that it respects the verdict of the Supreme Court, but at the same time stands by devotees in the opposition to women's entry. But this ambivalent take has been used by the CPM leadership to allege that the Congress is playing soft Hindutva card in concert with the BJP – an allegation the Congress would fain hear with its minority support base as mainstay.

It is in the middle of all this that the national leader of the party has expressed his discomfiting opinion. The state's Congress leaders are at pains to explain this contradiction, which is highlighted by both the CPM and the BJP for their own ends.

At another level, the Rahul utterance has come as a shot in the arm for those in the Congress who have a different take from the state unit's, such as young leader VT Balram. When he criticised the party's stance, Balram said Rahul Gandhi, and not Rahul Easwar, is the leader of the party.

Further, the party has authorised Congressman and former President of Devaswom Board, Prayar Gopalakrishnan to file a revision petition with the Supreme Court in which he is assisted by the national leaderhip and senior lawyers and party leaders like Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singvi. Rahul's statement has come amidst all such developments.

The AICC has given a clarification on the dichotomy between Rahul stand and Kerala's that difference of opinion is a natural part of democracy. Anand Sharma, AICC spokesman, explained that there is nothing wrong in such a diversity of views.