Sabarimala temple to open for Makaravilakku festival from Dec 30

Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA Kadakampally Surendran on Thursday refuted claims of the complaint made by Unnikrishnan Potti, Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple gold theft case prime accused, stating Surendran conspired with a woman to file a complaint before the Special Investigation Team (SIT). He said that the complaint is a result of a conspiracy running against him in view of the upcoming Assembly elections.

The Kollam Vigilance Court on Wednesday granted bail to Former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) President A Padmakumar in the Sabrimala Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) sculptures theft case.

His remarks come amid the mounting controversy over the surrounding the film The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond, which has triggered debate over the alleged misrepresentation of Kerala.

Speaking about the preparations, Vasavan said that three review meetings were convened to assess the arrangements for the festival and that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan personally attended one of the meetings.

Speaking on the bail granted to the Sabarimala Tantri, Rajeev said, "The High Court is supervising the SIT investigation. The Government does not need to express an opinion. The Kollam Court verdict was like a final judgment. The nature of the order was like a Supreme Court verdict. There is an abnormality in the order that granted bail to the Tantri."