THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM state secretariat has said that the BJP was trying to appropriate the legacy of R Sankar as it did with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. "The BJP, with the help of its government in the Centre, is attempting to rewrite history. The controversy over R Sankar's statue unveiling is part of the party's attempt to use Sankar's legacy to their benefit," the party secretariat observed here on Sunday.
The secretariat said SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan excluding Chief Minister Oommen Chandy from attending the R Sankar statue unveiling was part of the RSS agenda. Natesan's decision to make the ceremony an RSS function was a disregard to the ideals of Sree Narayana Guru, it said. "Sankar during his tenure as state chief minister and Yogam general secretary had upheld Sree Narayana Guru's ideals to counter communalism. It is improper to keep off the chief minister from attending the statue unveiling by the Prime Minister. It is against the protocol and decorum," the secretariat said.
"Vellappally Natesan intends to create communal polarisation. The chief minister's silence over the humiliation caused to him points out to his servility towards the RSS," the secretariat said. Natesan's ban on Chandy and local MLA A A Azeez and invite to MP N K Premachandran and MLA P K Gurudasan conveys his political stand. The unfortunate development is a challenge to the secular culture of the state, the secretariat said.