Vaji Vahana Was Handed to the Priest as Per Custom: Ajay Tharayil

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Congress leader and former Devaswom Board member Ajay Tharayil has defended the handover of the vaji vahanam from the Sabarimala flag mast to priest Kanthar Rajeev, stating it was done following customary practice, though no official records were made at the time.

The clarification comes after a special investigation team (SIT) recovered the vaji vahanam from Rajeev’s residence and produced it before the Kollam Vigilance Court, in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft case.

Tharayil, a member of the management committee during the installation of a new flag mast in 2017, said the priest had requested the old vaji vahanam atop the previous mast, claiming customary entitlement, and the board then handed it over. At the time, Congress leader Priyar Gopalakrishnan served as committee president.

The revelation has placed Congress in an awkward position, given that the party had earlier pinned responsibility for the Sabarimala gold theft on the LDF government. With no formal records of the handover, the party now finds itself under scrutiny even as it tried to highlight alleged lapses by others.

Meanwhile, the court accepted the vaji vahana after a formal appraisal. The recovery during the SIT probe underscores that what was once dismissed as procedural transfer is now part of the larger investigation into the gold theft.