Thiruvananthapuram: Congress president Rahul Gandhi's statement on Tuesday that he supported the entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala will embolden, rather than confuse, the state Congress leaders to infuse some aggression into their hitherto listless pro-faith agitation.

Rahul Gandhi's pro-women stand is not a bolt from the blue, it was already known. The AICC, too, was quick to welcome the Supreme Court verdict. But what is of importance is that the Congress president has not admonished the state leaders for taking a contrary position. On the other hand, he has sympathised with them.

“It's a very emotional issue for men and women in Kerala,” he said. In a way, Rahul Gandhi was endorsing the 'emotional' stand taken by the state unit of the party, however unpalatable it was for him. This was also why the AICC, after getting Rahul Gandhi's approval, decided to back the stand of the state unit of the party.

Friendly fight

It is also no coincidence that Rahul Gandhi's statement has come a day after the KPCC had decided to sharpen its pro-faith agitation. “No state Congress leader can stand against the national leadership. It would be naive to think that our decision to stand strongly by the faithful does not have the backing of the national leadership,” K Muraleedharan, chairman of KPCC's campaign committee said. AICC spokesperson Anand Sharma, even while backing Rahul Gandhi's pro-woman stand, said there was nothing wrong in the state unit of the party fighting to uphold faith.

A senior Congress leader said state leaders had managed to convince Rahul Gandhi of the state unit's predicament. He was referring to the Muslim factor. “We need to stand by faith to ensure that the Muslim League is happy. There are increasing demands from within the Muslim community for the entry of women into mosques. The League is dead against any such moves that will interfere in faith. All this might sound regressive, but by standing by Sabarimala devotees we can at least ensure that we are not accused of double standards in future,” a leader said. Gandhi was also told that it would be politically suicidal for the party to take a different stand after its government had given an affidavit in the court opposing women's entry into Sabarimala.

NaMo's alternative

The Congress president has his own compulsions. It is imperative for him to keep polishing his progressive secular image as he tries to fashion himself as Narendra Modi's alternative. But, by conceding the 'emotional' point, he has demonstrated that he is politically astute enough to allow local politics to have an independent play.

It also helps that the Congress is traditionally known to possess a wide ideological spectrum that can contain within its fold polarising strands. In short, it has space for a wide variety of nuances. For instance, the Congress-led front had once enjoyed power at the Centre with the support of the Left but down south in Kerala both the fronts could not look each other in the eye.

Impulsive leaders like KPCC working president K Sudhakaran sounded hugely disappointed. “It will be Congress' Waterloo in Kerala if it does not stand with Sabarimala devotees,” Sudhakaran said in response to Rahul's statement. However, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala sought to put things in perspective. “There is no change in the UDF position on Sabarimala,” Chennithala said close on the heels of Rahul Gandhi's pro-woman comment.

“Rahul Gandhi was not trying to belittle the state unit. His stand on the issue was already known. Though he holds another opinion, he had allowed the Kerala unit to go ahead with its plans. This just shows the greatness of the Congress president,” Chennithala said. The party has already begun statewide political rallies to explain its stand. It has also announced that its members would turn out in big numbers to support the faithful when Sabarimala opens.

Rahul Gandhi's disagreement is seen as nothing but an indirect sanction to block women from coming anywhere near Sabarimala.