Former ISRO Chief and eminent space scientist, G Madhavan Nair, has called the stealth-entry of two women aided by ruling communist party into the Sabarimala temple on 2 January, an "act of cowardice,", reports NDTV.

Calling the act “government-sponsored”, Nair said, "Anybody can do that. It's all done in the midnight.. the operation was done in the darkness " adding that Kerala government’s move had destroyed whatever peaceful atmosphere was created (after initial trouble post Supreme Court verdict).

He also slammed the government for its failure in post-flood rehabilitation measures. "The reconstruction and rehabilitation activities are progressing at a snail's pace. They should instead attend to those things," adding that the Communist government is wasting its energy on a trivial issue.

Talking about Sabarimala temple tradition, he said, "The practice of restricting women of childbearing age is a tradition of the people and devotees, and one has to respect that. I don’t think there is any constitutionality involved in that," he added.

Wondering why only the Hindu community is being targeted, he said " Sikhs, Muslims and Christians have their own set of practices. Is the Court or Government interfering in that? Why is the Hindu community alone being targeted? It's a political agenda,"he said.

On his joining in BJP recently he said: "I am not taking an active role in the party mechanism, but I will be providing intellectual support, I am trying to draw up a developmental agenda for Kerala."

The former ISRO Chief said that he is in the process of drafting a full document of development agenda for the state.

Nair who recently joined BJP said that he has been working for the party for a long time and was formally welcomed by BJP President Amit Shah during a visit to Kerala last year.