Centre’s draft explosive rules, and why it is BJP now feeling the heat of Thrissur Pooram fireworks

As per the draft rules, magazine fireworks should be at least 200 metres away from the display site, from where the public views the show. At Thrissur Pooram, the existing distance between the magazine and display site is 45 metres.

The condition that there should be a gap of 100 metres between the spectators and the display, the state government said, will “take the sheen out of the spectacle”.

Another proposed norm is that the assembly shed, where items for the fireworks are stored, should be at least 100 metres away from the display site. But since the assembly shed will be empty during the display, the Kerala government says there is “no logic in this stipulation”.

Rajan said these norms would make conducting the Pooram fireworks display difficult. “These norms amount to an open challenge to the festival. If the norms are implemented, the conduct of fireworks will be impossible at the Thekkinkadu ground (where the event is staged every year),” the minister said.

Pooram is regarded as one of Kerala’s most important festivals, particularly for the people of Thrissur. This year’s Pooram, held days before the Lok Sabha elections, was marred by the police restrictions on crowd management. Temple authorities had to abandon even the ritualistic proceedings in the wake of the restrictions.

Besides, for the first time in the festival’s modern history, the display of fireworks, which was scheduled for the small hours of April 20, was held in broad daylight instead. When uncertainty loomed over the fireworks display, BJP’s Thrissur Lok Sabha candidate and actor Suresh Gopi dramatically emerged and held discussions with temple authorities at 3 am on April 20, leading to the daylight display of fireworks. Gopi, who ultimately won in Thrissur, was hailed for his intervention.

A police probe later found that the Pooram disruptions were “deliberate” and “pre-planned” with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections. The state government earlier this month ordered a probe into the lapses on the part of then ADGP (Law and Order) M R Ajith Kumar in imposing police restrictions and antagonising the public. He is also in the dock for meeting RSS national leaders, though the motive of the meeting remains a mystery, according to a probe report tabled in the Assembly. Earlier this month, Kumar was stripped of his Law and Order charge, though he is continuing as the ADGP of the Armed Police Battalion.

Ensuring the display of fireworks has now become the onus of the BJP as its rivals allege the Pooram botch-up contributed to the party’s first-ever Lok Sabha win in Kerala.

BJP state vice-president advocate B Gopalakrishnan, who also hails from Thrissur, said, “We will see that the conduct of Pooram fireworks gets an exemption or special sanction. It is our task and we have already taken up the matter with the Union government. Every year, there are restrictions for the safe conduct of fireworks. But the issue of Pooram should not be used as a shield for conduct of any other fireworks in violation of the norms,” he said.