Overview

• Sabarimala Samrakshana Sangamam was held in Pandalam on Monday as a counter to Saturday’s Global Ayyappa conference in Pampa.
• Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K. Annamalai inaugurated the event and accused Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin of politicising faith.
• BJP leaders including Tejasvi Surya and Kerala unit chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar attended alongside Hindu Aikya Vedi members and representatives of the Pandalam royal family.
• Speakers demanded the LDF government withdraw its Supreme Court affidavit permitting women aged 10–50 to enter Sabarimala and urged it to drop cases filed during the 2018 agitation.
• The government–TDB conclave in Pampa, inaugurated by Vijayan, focused on crowd management, religious tourism and a Rs 1,033-crore Sabarimala Master Plan, with DMK ministers in attendance.