Amid row over empty chairs at Global Ayyappa Sangamam, CPM state secretary calls it a grand success

Amid reports that the much-hyped Global Ayyappa Sangamam held on Saturday at Pampa by the LDF government and the Travancore Devaswom Board(TDB) had been a damp squib with lesser participation of devotees in the event than expected, CPI-M Kerala secretary MV Govindan on Sunday said that the Sagamam was a “grand success”.

Speaking to media persons here, Govindan said some people are spreading false propaganda about the Ayyappa Sangamam. They are spreading utter nonsense, claiming that the images of empty chairs at the global Ayyappa Sangamam are AI (Artificial Intelligence) creations.

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Responding to visuals featuring vacant seats at the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, Govindan claimed they have been created using AI tools. The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) had only anticipated 3,000 people for the conference. But around 4,600 people attended the event , he said.

“You should be ashamed of circulating fake news. There should be facts while reporting,” he said.

Pictures and footages showing empty chairs across venues broadcast by news channels and later widely circulated on social media sparked criticism from Opposition parties, which branded the sangamam a “massive failure.” Seats turned empty with several attendees leaving the main venue immediately after the chief minister left the stage, while seminars held across three different venues took place in front of largely vacant chairs.

It has been reported that not even half of the delegates who registered to participate in the global Ayyappa Sangam did not turn up. The latest information is that the attendance at the event was below one thousand ,where 4245 people registered online. However, the Devaswom Board claims that about 2000 people participated in the event.

Devaswom Minister dismissed the reports of low turnout at the Sangamam, calling them as “deliberate propaganda”. According to him, 4,126 delegates registered and took part at the event – including 1,819 from Kerala, 2,125 from 13 other states, and 182 international representatives.

Senior Congress leader and Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan on Sunday said that the Ayyappa Sangamam, organised under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, turned out to be a “mockery driven by political motives.”

He said empty chairs at the venue were proof that the government’s attempt to mislead Ayyappa devotees and believers had collapsed.

Realising that this was nothing but a political drama staged with elections in mind, devotees stayed away, he said.

“Ayyappa devotees turned their backs on the Sangamam because they were convinced of the political drama carried out ahead of the elections. The majority of those in the audience were Devaswom Board employees, staff members and officials of the Chief Minister and ministers. The entire world saw the images of the empty chairs through the media,” Satheesan said.

Responding to CPI-M state secretary MV Govindan’s claim that the visuals featuring vacant seats at the Global Ayyappa Sangamam have been created using AI tools, he said his statement that these images were AI-generated is an insult to public intelligence. “M V Govindan should not make himself a laughingstock with such statements,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Sabarimala Karma Samithi, an umbrella organisation of groups that campaigned against the entry of women to Sabarimala, along with the Hindu Aikya Vedi will hold a Vishwasa Sangamam {Gathering of devotees) on September 22 in Pandalam, as an alternative to the LDF government -sponsored Global Ayyappa Summit held at Pamba on September 20. Tamil Nadu BJP’s former president K Annamalai will inaugurate the programme. The day-long programme, themed ‘Faith with Development’, will be held at Nanak Convention Centre in Pandalam. It will focus on Sabarimala’s faith, development, and security.