Over 12 lakh devotees visit Sabarimala in 15 Days
Pathanamthitta (PTI): Around 12.48 lakh devotees have visited the Sabarimala temple in the first 15 days of the mandala-makaravilakku pilgrimage season, officials said on Sunday.
A Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) release said 12,47,954 pilgrims have reached the hill shrine since the pilgrimage began on November 16.
On Sunday alone, 50,264 devotees trekked to Sabarimala till 7 pm, officials said.
Authorities said the crowd has remained under control in recent days, enabling pilgrims to complete darshan without difficulty.
In the initial days of the season, Sabarimala witnessed heavy congestion, prompting the Kerala High Court to intervene and direct officials to restrict the number of devotees arriving through the spot-booking system.
The mandala-makaravilakku season will conclude in January.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
