THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The pragmatic intervention of devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran could help diffuse the tension at Sabarimala temple on Friday morning. But, his act hasn’t gone down well among the CPM leadership. Many in the CPM leadership felt Surendran had lost an opportunity as the two women pilgrims had reached near the temple. The portrayal of one of the pilgrims as an activist by the minister has also invited cricism from the leadership.Even though the devaswom minister had no clue regarding the identity of the woman activist who treked to Sabarimala initially, he swung into action as soon as he came to know about the controversial past of activist Rehana Fathima. The minister immediately rang up IG Sreejith who was escorting her and urged him to stop the trek. The minister was also unhappy with the way the police kept it as a secret. He called up the state police chief and expressed his deep displeasure. He warned the police chief that if Rehana was allowed to climb the holy steps of Sabarimala, then there will be communal tension in the state.Soon, tanthri Kandaru Rajeevaru spoke to the devaswom minister and made it clear that if the two women are climbing the holy steps then he will be forced to close the sanctum sanctorum.The devaswom minister directed IG Sreejith that no force should be used to take the two women to the holy shrine.The devaswom minister later said Sabarimala should not be used as a place to show strength of the activists. “I believe that there was failure on part of the police in realising the exact intentions of the woman who came for darshan,’’ he said.The minister alleged conspiracy behind the act and said the motive was to create tension in the state. After the morning drama, the minister met CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and explained the details. CM Pinarayi Vijayan who was in the UAE was also briefed about the developments.Later in the day, Kodiyeri made it clear that even activists can go to Sabarimala and nobody would prevent them. Sources said Kodiyeri made the clarification to prove that there was no change in the stance of CPM.

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