Thiruvananthapuram: In an apparently tactical U-turn the Kerala government on Tuesday clarified that the pilgrims who visit Sabarimala without virtual queue booking will also be provided smooth darshan at the Lord Ayyappa temple.
Earlier, the government led by Pinarayi Vjayan had issued orders that darshan would be allowed only for those who make online booking in advance and had restricted entry to 80,000 per day to facilitate smooth ans safe pilgrimate.
Now, the government backtracked from its earlier decision amidst widespread protest. There have also been concerns about reported moves by political parties in the Opposition, i.e. the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make political capital out of it by using public sentiment against the restriction.
Chief Minister Vijayan made the announcement in the Assembly, while replying to a submission by V Joy (CPI-M) in this regard.
"Facilities for smooth darshan will be ensured for pilgrims who come without (online) registration as well...Darshan will be ensured to those who do not register online and those who come without knowing about the system," he said.
Similar facilities had been provided in the hill temple during the last pilgrim season as well, he said.
However, the chief minister, during his brief speech, didn't clearly state whether the spot booking system would be maintained as it was in the previous year, along with the virtual queue booking.
An evaluation meeting, held on October 5, had discussed allowing spot booking for pilgrims in Sabarimala, he said.
The meeting also discussed measures to be taken to ensure secure and smooth darshan for all pilgrims reaching the hill temple, the CM explained.
Stating that the details of pilgrims will be available as a digital document through virtual queue registration, he said this is helpful in ensuring safety and identifying people in case of accident or missing incidents during the time of pilgrimage.
The Chief Minister also cited other pilgrimage centres such as Tirupati where he said the virtual queue system is running flawlessly, and added that it was on this model that the online registration had been introduced in Sabarimala in 2011.
He also claimed that the government has ensured better facilities this time at the Lord Ayyappa temple for the upcoming pilgrimage season which will get underway by mid-November.
The CM's statement came a day after the BJP threatened to carry out agitations if the government goes ahead with its plan to not allow spot booking and permit darshan only through the virtual queue system.
In the virtual queue system, pilgrims can book their darshan tickets and prasadam online through the official website of the Sabarimala temple.
In spot booking, pilgrims can book slots for their darshan at designated centres identified by the Devaswom Board.
The opposition Congress-led UDF, too, has been urging the government to retain spot booking along with the virtual queue booking as it cannot expect all the devotees to be familiar with the technology.
Interestingly, even the CPI, the second-largest coalition partner in the ruling LDF, had suggested that it was better to allow on-the-spot booking also along with the virtual queue booking.
(Inputs from PTI)