THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The hardhitting statement by NSS secretary G Sukumaran Nair against Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan heralds the dawn of a new era for the 96yearold Nair Service Society. The elegant and soft spoken face of the sole organisation of the Nair community fades out and an aggressive and outspoken face slowly emerges there.
Top sources in the NSS told Express that general secretary P K Narayana Panicker who has taken two months' leave for treatment is unlikely to join back as the general secretary. G Sukumaran Nair, who is holding the post of general secretary, will be elected as the new general secretary in the next general body of the organisation scheduled to be held in June. The NSS is likely to find a replacement for its president P V Neelakanta Pillai, who is also unhealthy. P N Narendranathan Nair, who is the treasurer, is the frontrunner for the post.
The equidistance policy was framed by P K Narayana Panicker in 1996 to get NSS out of the UDF fold. Since then, the NSS had upheld that policy and Panicker refused to budge even an inch when both the LDF and the UDF had tried to woo him ahead of election. Though equidistance was the policy announced by NSS general secretary P K Narayana Panicker ahead of this election, it has now become clear that Panicker's stand had not been acceptable to the hardliners in the organisation led by Sukumaran Nair.
According to sources, Panicker had vetoed the plan of Sukumaran Nair to announce ahead of the election NSS's objection to VS becoming the chief minister once again. Even when VS stepped up his tirade against NSS's trusted lieutenant R Balakrishna Pillai, Panicker had refused to take a public position in favour of Pillai.
The stand of Narayana Panicker was that it was illogical to shed the equidistance policy at that juncture as the LDF manifesto had announced economic reservation to forward communities, a longpending demand of the NSS. Taking into account the sentiments of the NSS, the LDF Government had abandoned the controversial Devaswom bill in the last year of its governance. The views of the NSS were sought by the CPM before deciding on its Rajya Sabha seats last year. That was how K N Balagopal and T N Seema won tickets.
Forgetting all these easily and taking a public position against the CPM was impossible for the NSS ahead of the polls. But, NSS leadership silently asked grassrootlevel workers to ensure the defeat of LDF candidates in all seats. On May 13, it will be clear whether the NSS cadre had paid heed to this silent diktat or not.