THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The NDA's 'Save Sabarimala' march concluded here on Monday, as pressure mounted on the state government to prevent the situation from getting out of hand when the hill shrine opens in less than 24 hours for the monthly puja. The Supreme Court's historic September 28 verdict, allowing women aged between 10 and 50 to pray at Sabarimala temple , has polarised opinion in the state with pro and anti-verdict groups threatening to assemble at the temple in force on Oct 17.Addressing thousands of NDA workers here at the conclusion of its 'long march' that started from Pandalam on Oct 10, BJP national general secretary Muralidhar Rao said the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala was denying people's "constitutional ...and religious rights" and that NDA would ratchet up the protests if the government didn't resolve the issue urgently. "We are not against the Supreme Court. We are against the CPM government in Kerala... We are seeking our constitutional right. We know why the CPM is in a hurry to implement the SC order. The communists see temple as mere properties to be managed. They only want to grab the temples. We only want them to show respect to our tradition," Rao said.The state government has repeatedly declared that it will implement the SC verdict in letter and spirit, though over the last few days, following growing protests, the government has tried to engage with major stakeholders in the Sabarimala temple like the thantri family and erstwhile Pandalalm royal family. The Travancore Devaswom Board is set to meet representatives of these families on Tuesday morning for a final push towards finding common ground on the contentious issue.Several NDA leaders, including actor-turned-MP Suresh Gopi, Nalin Kumar Kateel , BDJS chief and Rajya Sabha MP Thushar Vellappally and state BJP president P S Sreedharan Pillai led the march. ''We will meet each villager in Kerala and chalk out a massive agitation plan to protect Sabarimala temple, its centuries-old traditions and the sentiments of Lord Ayyappa devotees,'' Pillai said. He said if the government failed to resolve the issue ''in the next 24 hours'', the NDA will formulate an elaborate protest plan ''reach our goal''. ''Ayyappa devotees not only in Kerala but across the country are disturbed by the recent developments. The state government is responsible for the crisis,'' Rao said.Thousands of party workers, including a large number of women, many of them clad in black attire associated with Sabarimala pilgrimage, gathered in front of the Secretariat – the administrative hub of the government – demanding that the government take devotees’ sentiments too into account and file a review petition in the apex court.The state government has repeatedly declared that it will implement the SC verdict in letter and spirit, though over the last few days, following growing protests, the government has tried to engage with major stakeholders in the Sabarimala temple like the thantri family and erstwhile Pandalalm royal family. The Travancore Devaswom Board is set to meet representatives of these families on Tuesday morning for a final push towards finding common ground on the contentious issue.Several NDA leaders, including actor-turned-MP Suresh Gopi, Nalin Kumar Kateel, BDJS chief and Rajya Sabha MP Thushar Vellappally and state BJP president P S Sreedharan Pillai led the march. “We will meet each villager in Kerala and chalk out a massive agitation plan to protect Sabarimala temple, its centuries-old traditions and the sentiments of Lord Ayyappa devotees,” Pillai said. He said if the government failed to resolve the issue “in the next 24 hours”, the NDA will formulate an elaborate protest plan “reach our goal”. “Ayyappa devotees not only in Kerala but across the country are disturbed by the recent developments. The state government is responsible for the crisis,” Rao said.State industries minister, E P Jayarajan, a confidant of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Monday said that the government did not want any confrontation with Ayyappa devotees but was also dutybound to implement the SC order. “The Congress and Sangh Parivar are deliberately trying to trigger violence under the cover of the Supreme Court verdict on entry of women into the Sabarimala temple,” he said.

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