Rahul Gandhi Sabarimala Congress BJP Kerala Photo Credit: IANS Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who had earlier argued that all women should be allowed to enter the Sabarimala temple, on Saturday, said he cannot take an "open-and-shut" position on the issue as there is validity in the arguments of both the sides. He also mentioned that people of Kerala should be allowed to decide on the matter.

“Rahul's departure from his initial stand worries us, but what about statements made by PM and Shah. Shah made a statement that was akin to a threat,” RJD leader Manoj Jha.

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Gandhi gave this statement while speaking at a press conference in Dubai on Saturday and said that the issue is "much more complicated" and accepted that his initial position on the Sabarimala issue was different than what it is today.

After the Supreme Court gave the historic verdict allowing the entry of women of all age groups to Sabarimala, Gandhi had stated that all women should be allowed to enter the holy shrine and added that his view on the issue was different from party’s Kerala unit.

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While the party welcomed the SC verdict the party MPs from Kerala had opposed it.

The shrine was out of bounds for girls and women between 10 and 50 years of age but after the September 28 verdict women of all age groups were allowed to offer prayers at the hill shrine which is dedicated to Lord Ayyappa.

Kerala witnessed massive protests across the state after the Pinarayi Vijayan-led CPI(M) government decided to implement the Supreme Court ruling.

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