Recently, a huge billboard came up at Thiruvananthapuram’s Bakery Junction, a prominent spot in the state capital.
It featured a collage of photographs of BJP state president K. Surendran during the agitation against the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of menstrual age entry into the Sabarimala temple. The billboard was an indication that, with just two weeks left for the assembly elections, the shrine had re-entered the political discourse of the state.
And, the ruling Left Democratic Front is feeling the heat.
If one were to single out the biggest electoral mistake the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government has made, it would be the “overzealousness” it showed in implementing the court verdict. The deity at the Sabarimala temple is a naishtika brahmachari (strict celibate), and the entry of women there angered a large group of believers. The left paid a huge price; it won only one of 20 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
While all political parties had welcomed the 2018 verdict as a “progressive step towards gender equality”, both the Congress and the BJP changed their tone sensing the pulse on the ground. They even hit the streets against the order.
But the LDF, especially Vijayan, decided to follow the verdict in letter and spirit. He saw it as an opportunity for a “second renaissance movement” in the state and as a huge step towards gender equality. He must have also sensed the possibility of a grand alliance of OBCs and dalits, along with minorities, even though the upper castes were vehemently against the verdict.
この記事は THE WEEK の April 04, 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は THE WEEK の April 04, 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Trump And The Crisis Of Liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
