Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said on Saturday, that the government is willing to conduct a referendum on whether women of all age groups should be allowed entry to Sabarimala.
Maintaining that the government values public consensus on the issue over court order, he informed that an all-party meeting would be held to discuss the matter.
“In this connection, the government will not forcefully impose any decision on public. We prefer consensus on the subject to a court verdict,” he was quoted as saying.
The Supreme Court in February, had ruled that no temple can bar entry of women devotees and had asked the Kerala government to submit an affidavit in response to a petition challenging the ban on entry of women.
While the earlier UDF government defended the ban, Surendran’s statement that the ban on entry of women is unjust, attracted flak from BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan earlier this week.