The Left Front government in Kerala has made it clear that it wants to listen to all stakeholders on how to maintain peace while enforcing the Supreme Court’s Sabarimala judgment allowing women of all ages to enter the hilltop temple.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, state unit secretary of the ruling CPM, said the government’s decision on Tuesday to call an all-party meeting on November 15 was because it wanted everybody’s cooperation.

“The Supreme Court made no change in its order yesterday (Tuesday). So the government wants to discuss with everyone and take necessary steps for a smooth and peaceful pilgrimage season,” Balakrishnan said on Wednesday, alluding to the two-month-long peak period set to start on Friday evening. “The government wants to avoid conflict and create a conducive atmosphere.”

The government’s decision came on a day the top court agreed to review on January 22 its judgment but declined to stay the September 28 order that had lifted the ban on women of childbearing age from entering the temple.

Front convener A. Vijayaraghavan said the government was trying its best to convince everyone about the need for a consensus. “The all-party meeting is an honest effort to reach a consensus with all stakeholders and parties” he said.

In the two brief phases that the temple opened after the court lifted the ban, protesters have not allowed a single woman aged between 10 and 50 to enter the shrine.

Apart from all parties in the ruling LDF, the opposition UDF and the BJP, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has invited for talks representatives of the Sabarimala tantri (head priest) and the Pandalam palace that once ran the temple.

The head priest’s family had earlier rejected Vijayan’s invitation for a meeting on October 8 when the CPM leader had wanted to discuss ways to implement the September order.

Kandararu Mohanaru, who would represent the tantri’s family on Thursday, had then said he wanted to first hear from the government that it would file a review plea. But the government had refused to file any petition.

On Wednesday, Mohanaru said he was ready to meet Vijayan on Thursday. “The Pandalam family will also attend. We have been asked to meet the chief minister at his chamber,” he said.

BJP state unit chief P.S. Sreedharan Pillai said: “We had asked for an all-party meeting (soon after the September judgment), but the government did not listen to us. Even if this is delayed wisdom, we have hopes.”

The all-party meeting will be held at 11am before Vijayan meets the representatives of the tantri’s family and the Pandalam family at 3pm in his chambers.The Congress, the main Opposition party, said it would walk out of the meeting if the chief minister does not heed its demand to defer the implementation of the court’s September order.

State unit chief Mullapally Ramachandran was among those not in favour of attending the meeting. But other leaders, including the leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, decided to accept the invite.

The number of women between 10 and 50 who have registered in the digital crowd management system has crossed 800, a large number of them from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Gender rights activist Trupti Desai has written to Vijayan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking security to facilitate her enter into the temple. She is due to land in Kochi on Saturday, before heading to Sabarimala, around 150km by road.

The government has decided to deploy more than 5,000 police personnel as part of its preparations for the two-month-long pilgrimage season that ends on January 20, two days before the top court takes up the review pleas.

As no private vehicles would be permitted beyond Nilakkal, 23km from Sabarimala, state road transport vehicles would be pressed into service.

Pilgrims had booked more than 11 lakh bus tickets through the online portal till Wednesday evening.