The top priests of the Sabarimala temple and the erstwhile Pandalam royal family have spurned Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s invitation for talks, giving the ruling CPM another opportunity to firm up its stand on women’s entry into the shrine.

The state CPM had from the very beginning, especially Vijayan, taken the position that it was all for the Supreme Court order allowing women of all ages to enter the temple, irrespective of protests launched by the BJP and some fringe Sangh parivar organisations.

Except for party MLA and Travancore Devaswom Board president A. Padmakumar’s faux pas, when he talked about women in his family not making the pilgrimage and the impracticality of dialectical materialism inside the temple, the Left-led government had the support of those advocating gender equality.

So when Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran announced on Saturday that the chief minister would meet all persons concerned and “convince them that as an elected government we are duty-bound to implement the verdict of the highest court of the county”, many were surprised.

The supporters of the court verdict felt that it was stupid on the part of the CPM and the government to make such a move. It gave the impression that the government was wavering in the face of the agitation launched by Hindutva elements and certain caste-based organisations such as the Nair Service Society jumping into the fray simply to justify their own existence.

Social activists and critics of the government were prompt in pointing out that the BJP government in Maharashtra did not wait for such dialogue when the top court trashed a 700-year-old tradition by allowing women to enter the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district last year.

On the face of it, it is the ganging up of anti-CPM parties in the state that seems to have annoyed the CPM central leadership, which is reported to have advised the state leaders to hold talks with the priests and others involved in the running of the temple.

On the ground, the reality is that the Opposition has become irrelevant over the past two years. The Congress has still not recovered from its defeat in the last Assembly elections and is looking for any issue to be in the limelight.

The BJP is still rootless in the state, except for a handful of leaders making noises over channel discussions. The party sees Sabarimala as an opportunity to flaunt its brand of caste politics and hopes to make its presence felt in the state. Or, at least, keep its national president Amit Shah in good humour.

The Indian Union Muslim League lending its support to the Sabarimala faithful is understandable since the party is trying to ward off any voices of dissent that could arise in the future from progressive elements in the community.

Then the question arises as to why the CPM is hesitant to take drastic action. Some say the answer lies in Surendran’s statement itself. The minister, while announcing the government’s willingness to open a dialogue, had said “some parties are fanning trouble, eyeing votes”.

The sudden “softness” on the part of the government has given the impression that the CPM too is trying to play safe with the Hindu majority ahead of the 2019 general election. The Left Front has to prove it wrong.