THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The argument that shifting the Sabarimala protest venue from the hill shrine to Secretariat gate would dampen the spirit of tradition and beliefs and reduce it to a mere political agitation has resulted in a cold war between BJP and RSS leaderships. Even within the BJP, there are differences of opinion over this.

The RSS leadership’s opinion is that by politicising the protests, the BJP had let go of the opportunity to stir up the sentiments of people in the name of tradition.

Meanwhile, a section in BJP feels that Sabarimala is the right venue for exploiting the situation in the name of tradition and beliefs. The strike in front of the Secretariat will not give the required mileage for the party and it will be seen as an ordinary strike. Not only this, it will be viewed as a victory gifted to the CPM.

BJP MP V Muraleedharan’s statement is a reflection of this resentment within the party. There was also resentment among some workers especially after BJP's cold approach to the protests following K Surendran' arrest, which they feel gave the impression that the strike was called off soon after Surendran’s arrest.

The BJP had observed hartal when Hindu Aikya Vedi leader K P Sasikala was arrested, however no protests were staged when K Surendran was arrested.

On Friday, Sreedharan Pillai had clarified that BJP had not called off the protests regarding Sabarimala issue. Meanwhile, the RSS has taken exception to the infighting within the BJP at decisive times. Several methods of its protests had also irked the RSS. For instance, they were not taken into confidence while Sasikala, and later Surendran were sent to protest in Sabarimala with Irumudikettu.