While Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony's refusal to ban Vishwa Hindu Parishad's trishul deeksha programme in the state has earned him the Congress high command's ire, it has brought him kudos from no less than the Sankaracharya of Kanchi.
With Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi banning the trishul deeksha ceremonies saying these could lead to communal disturbances, Antony's green signal to the VHP has upset the Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Congress leaders in Kerala said that already a couple of senior leaders from Delhi have called up Antony asking him to reconsider his stand.
"The Kerala government's refusal to ban the VHP's trishul deeksha programme has made the Congress campaign against it futile. While we, the Congress leaders in the north, say that the trident distribution is a grave threat to communal harmony, Antony says he is fine with it," a senior Congress leader told rediff.com from Delhi.
He said Sonia most likely would directly talk to Antony on the issue.
The Kerala chief minister, meanwhile, remains unruffled by the storm building around him. His argument is that the communal and social situation in the state does not warrant any ban on the VHP programme.
Antony recently told newspersons that each state government was free to frame its own policy on law and order. "The situation in each state is different and there is nothing wrong if the Congress-led government in Kerala does not follow the ban on trishul deekshas imposed by Congress governments in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh," the chief minister said.
Antony said his government does not expect any trouble on account of VHP's trishul deeksha programme. "Is it such a big issue? If you want to distribute trishuls, kindly go ahead and do it," Antony told reporters.
Some Congress leaders in Kerala say it is not the first time that Antony is taking a pro-Sangh Parivar line. Some months back, the chief minister had objected to the Congress party branding the Sangh Parivar as "saffron brigade."
VHP leader, Praveen Togadia, recently remarked that not Sonia, but Antony should be the Congress president.
The Sankaracharya of Kanchi, Swami Jayendra Saraswati, who is on a visit to Kerala, called Antony 'India's only morally correct politician.'
"He is a chief minister who gives respect to all religions in the country. Antony is a gentleman, a simple man and an ordinary man," the Sankaracharya said at a public function.
