Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led UDF
government in Kerala on Tuesday made it clear that it did not agree
with the CPI-M's view that the huge wealth found in the vaults
of the Padmanabhaswamy temple here are public assets.
"I am of the view that the treasures found in the temple
vaults are assets of the temple," Chief Minister Oommen Chandy
said when asked by reporters about CPI-M state secretary
Pinarayi Vijayan's statement that the wealth should be treated
as public assets.
He said he also did not agree with CPI-M's suggestion
that an administrative body on the lines of the Guruvayur
Temple Managing Committee be set up to manage the temple
affairs, freeing it from control of the Trust run by the
Travancore Royal Family.
However, he added that the Supreme Court's decision would
be final in all these matters.
Meanwhile, certain Hindu outfits in Kerala also came down
heavily on CPI-M for demanding formation of a state-appointed
administrative set-up for the temple.
"The temple properties belong to the temple alone.
Vijayan's statement on the issue amounts to insulting
believers," Hindu Aikyavedi leader Kummanam Rajasekaran said
in a statement.
Disclosing the CPI-M's official stand on the issue for
the first time, Vijayan had yesterday suggested formation of a
broad-based managing set-up for the temple akin to that in
Guruvayur and also said that the treasure found should be
treated as public assets.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 14:07