V Muraleedharan demands dismissal of Devaswom Minister, dissolution of TDB board over 'daylight robbery'

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], October 10 (ANI): In a scathing attack on the Kerala government amid the escalating Sabarimala gold plating controversy, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader V Muraleedharan on Friday accused the state administration of betraying the trust of devotees and demanded the immediate dismissal of the Devaswom Minister along with the dissolution of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).
Muraleedharan said that the Kerala High Court's intervention in the matter was a "clear indictment" of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He alleged that the government was attempting to shield those involved in what he described as a "daylight robbery" of temple property.
"It is a clear indication of the fact that the High Court doesn't trust the Devaswom board and the government, because the court has said that it will do a criminal investigation... It's a clear indictment of the state government, nothing beyond that, nothing less than that. I don't understand how the Devaswom minister is still clinging to his chair and the Devaswom board president is still in position. Why does the government not dismiss the minister and dissolve the board? This has been our demand. Now the court has very clearly mentioned that there has been a robbery... It's daylight robbery," he said.
The controversy pertains to alleged irregularities in the gold plating work at the Sabarimala temple, which involved 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper donated by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998 for cladding the sanctum sanctorum and wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala.
As the row deepened, protests erupted across Kerala. In Kochi, BJP workers held demonstrations in front of the Taluk Offices demanding a transparent probe into the alleged misappropriation. Police used water cannons to disperse the protestors as tensions rose in several parts of the state.
Responding to the allegations, Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan told ANI that a detailed investigation was being conducted under the supervision of the Kerala High Court.
"The pedestal was recovered from the residence of Unnikrishnan Potty, who himself raised the complaint, which reveals who the culprit is. More facts will emerge as the investigation progresses," the minister said. (ANI)