KOTTAYAM: In a setback for the UDF, especially Congress, ahead of the assembly elections, heads of two influential Hindu community organisations — the Nair Service Society (NSS) and Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam — lashed out at Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan on the same day.
The statements by NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair and SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan on Sunday are being seen as a blow to the UDF, which, buoyed by the success in December’s local body polls, is gearing up for the assembly election under Satheesan’s leadership.
The leaders also alluded to the necessity of Nair-Ezhava unity in Kerala, a move interpreted as an indirect response to a possible minority consolidation in the elections.
Nair alleged that the Congress had let Satheesan ‘loose’. “Does Congress have a president? Why does Satheesan respond to every issue? He is commenting on everything by making the president look like a pawn,” he said.
Vellappally said Satheesan had been calling him a communalist while himself aligning with Jamaat-e-Islami and Muslim League.
League responsible for our separation from NSS, says Vellappally
“There are several other senior leaders in Congress like A K Antony, Ramesh Chennithala and K C Venugopal. I will concede if they say I am a communalist. Satheesan is calling me a communalist while aligning with Jamaat-e-Islami and Muslim League,” he told reporters at his residence in Kanichukulangara, Alappuzha.
On Satheesan’s comments over him travelling in the chief minister’s car, Vellappally said. “My father gifted my sister an imported car even before Satheesan was born. What were Satheesan’s assets before entering politics? He consistently speaks against Ezhavas. Even his grandfather couldn’t cause a division in the SNDP Yogam,” he said.
Vellappally also said unity between the NSS and SSNDP Yogam is essential, and a meeting will be convened in Alappuzha on January 21 to discuss it. He also accused the Indian Union Muslim League of sowing discord between the two groups.
“The League was responsible for our separation from the NSS by discouraging cooperation. The SNDP has always advocated for the unity of Hindu communities, from Nayadi to Namboothiri. The League leadership organised protests by projecting the SNDP and opposed Nair-Ezhava unity,” he said.
Nair also questioned Satheesan’s secular credentials, citing his visit to a Syro-Malabar Church synod. Responding to Vellappally’s call, Nair said NSS will explore the possibility of a conditional unity with the SNDP, but clarified it was not about Hindu unity.
“We are open to unity that preserves NSS’s core principles — ‘equidistance’ in politics and treating all castes and communities with equality. We also remain committed to intervening in social issues,” he said. He declined to comment on Vellappally’s attack on the League, but rejected his claim that the League sabotaged the previous NSS-SNDP alliance.
Sources said both NSS and SNDP are dissatisfied with upper hand of League in the UDF, and are also opposed to the emergence of Satheesan in the leadership by sidelining veterans like Chennithala.
It is after a decade that the NSS and the SNDP Yogam are showing signs of rapprochement, following the unsuccessful Hindu Grand Alliance that spanned from 2012 to 2014. Though they temporarily set aside their differences to form an alliance in 2012, the initiative faltered in 2014 over the proposal to establish the Devaswom Recruitment Board.
My stand is against communal rifts: Satheesan
Kochi: Responding to criticism, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan on Sunday said his stand was against communal divisions and rifts. He also said people were speaking against him as he urged them not to spread hatred. “There should not be divisions between communities and religions. I am not against community leaders. If these communities have issues, we should be the first to help them,” he told reporters.
“How are meeting community leaders and speaking against communalism connected? The stand we, Congress and UDF, have taken is to fight against communalism uncompromisingly,” he said. He also said people have the right to criticise him and his approach, and if there are mistakes, he will correct them.
“I visited Perunna after becoming the leader of the opposition and even as an MLA. Even when Sukumaran Nair was hospitalised, I went and met him. I visit all community leaders. I am invited to many community events. That is how political leadership in Kerala functions,” he said.