Man immolates self during Sabarimala protest; BJP accuses Kerala CM, calls hartal
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 13: A 55-year-old man, said to be an Ayyappa devotee, died after setting himself afire near the venue of the BJP's protest over the Sabarimala issue here Thursday.
Calling a state-wide hartal on Friday over the death, BJP claimed the man immolated himself protesting the "adamant" stand of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala over the issue of continuing prohibitory orders and restrictions at the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
Venugopalan Nair of Muttada near here, who suffered 90 per cent burns, succumbed at the Government Medical College Hospital in the evening, police said.
Chanting 'Swamiye saranam Ayyappa' mantra, Nair set himself afire after dousing him with petrol near the venue in front of the state secretariat in the early hours.
He tried to run toward the makeshift tent where BJP leader C K Padmanabhan is on an indefinite fast demanding lifting of prohibitory orders in force in and around Sabarimala hill shrine, police said.
Party activists and police personnel, who were present near the venue, in front of the Kerala secretariat, doused the fire using drinking water and rushed him to the hospital, where he died without responding to treatment.
Quoting his relatives, police said Nair was an Ayyappa devotee.
BJP announced a dawn-to-dusk hartal across the state Friday as a mark of respect to Nair.
A BJP release claimed that Nair took the extreme step due to the "adamant" stand of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government on the Sabarimala issue.
The party has been protesting against the state government over its decision to implement the Supreme Court order allowing women of all age groups to offer prayers at the temple and also demanding lifting of the ban orders and restrictions.
The state government has said it was constitutionally bound to implement the September 28 Supreme Court.
After a large number of devotees came out against the apex court order, the BJP and main opposition Congress have backed their stand.
The BJP is opposing any move to allow women in the 10-50 age group to trek the holy hill for 'darshan' at the Ayyappa temple.
When the temple was opened for monthly and special pujas in October and November, there were massive protests by devotees, following which severe restrictions, including prohibitory orders, were imposed by the state government.
However, so far no women in the previously banned age group had been able to enter the temple.
Since the two-month long pilgrim season began on November 16, this is the second state-wide hartal called by the BJP on the Sabarimala issue.
Earlier, it had observed a hartal to protest the detention of K P Sasikala, President of the Hindu Aikya Vedi.
Meanwhile, officials said examinations scheduled to be held by various universities, including Mahatma Gandhi and Kerala varsities, Friday have been postponed.
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Voting underway for local body elections in Gujarat
Ahmedabad (PTI): Voting got underway on Sunday morning for elections to several local bodies in Gujarat, including 15 municipal corporations and 84 municipalities.
Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, as per the schedule announced by the State Election Commission.
The elections are being held for 15 municipal corporations, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats, making it one of the largest electoral exercises in the state.
A total of 9,992 candidates are in the fray, with more than 4.18 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise.
A three-tier security is in place, aided by CCTV surveillance and deployment of special squads in sensitive areas, police officials said.
The polls are being conducted under revised norms for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations, and required extensive delimitation and restructuring of wards in several districts.
The ruling BJP, Opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have emerged as the key players, while All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is also contesting in several places.
Among notable candidates are former Gujarat-cadre IPS officer M L Ninama, ex-radio jockey Abha Desai, and former AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani.
Ninama is contesting from the Odh seat in Shamlaji taluka for the Arvalli district panchayat elections, while the BJP has nominated Bhayani from the Bhesan seat of the Junagadh district panchayat.
Desai, popularly known as RJ Abha, is contesting as a Congress candidate from ward number 10 of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
Elections are also being held for the first time in nine newly-created municipal corporations, including Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar and Surendranagar.
Counting of votes will take place on April 28.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel campaigned extensively for the BJP.
The AAP had taken the lead over other parties in launching the campaign, with its national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann addressing several rallies across Gujarat.
In a first for AAP, the Kejriwal-led party is contesting around 5,000 seats in local polls.
Other contestants include the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Independents.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi campaigned in the final phase, addressing public meetings in Ahmedabad and Bhuj.
In March 2021, the BJP scored a landslide win in the local polls in Gujarat, winning 6,236 out of 8,470 seats across various municipalities and establishing a wide gap with rival Congress.
The BJP had then dominated all six municipal corporations, besides 81 municipalities, 32 district panchayats, and 231 taluka panchayats.
