Kerala Govt Should Ensure Law and Order is Maintained, Says BJP after Sabarimala Verdict

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday asked the Kerala government to ensure maintenance of law and order in the state following the Supreme Court's decision to refer the Sabarimala case to a larger bench.

While at a party's press conference Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said he will not comment on the matter except for asking the government in Kerala, where the Left is in power, to maintain law and order in the state. BJP leader BL Santhosh welcomed the decision to refer the case to a larger bench, claiming that it is in the direction of protecting rights of devotees and upholding faith.

The BJP has long been of the view that the Kerala government should not use force to implement an earlier Supreme Court order, which had lifted the ban on women of menstruating age from entering the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.

The Left government has also softened its stand on implementing the order, which has not been stayed, after rallying police force to prevent devotees from stopping women from entering the temple.

Santhosh, BJP's general secretary (organisation), tweeted, "Sabarimala issue referred to larger bench. Welcome decision of SC in the direction of protecting rights of devotees and upholding faith. It was never a matter of fundamental rights. It was a matter of age old tradition accepted by society."

The Supreme Court on Thursday said restrictions on women in religious places was not limited to Sabarimala alone and was prevalent in other religions as well as it referred all review pleas to a larger seven-judge bench.