Hindu outfits decry CPI(M) stand on Padmanabhaswamy temple assets

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hindu outfits in Kerala today came down heavily on the CPI(M) for demanding formation of a state-appointed administrative set-up for Padmanabhaswamy temple arguing that the invaluable objectives in the vaults were public assets.

"The temple properties belong to the temple alone. CPI(M) state secretary Pinaryi Vijayan's statement on the issue amounts to insulting the believers," Hindu Aikyavedi leader Kummanam Rajasekaran said in a statement.

On the suggestion to entrust the temple administration to a managing committee by freeing it from the trust run by Travancore royal family, Rajasekharan said such a scenario would lead to politicisation of the temple affairs.

Hindu organisations would strongly resist any move to declare the temple properties as public assets since it would lead to their misappropriation and alienation, he said.

Disclosing CPI(M)'s official stand on the temple issue for the first time, Vijayan had yesterday suggested formation of a broad-based managing set-up for the temple on the lines of the Guruvayur temple managing committee.

He had also said though the party considered the huge wealth of the temple as public assets, the question of how they should be handled in future should be addressed through democratic debate and processes.