KOCHI: Asserting that the Congress-led UDF will not be able to win the 2026 assembly elections, SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan on Sunday challenged Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, saying he will resign from his post if the UDF secures 100 seats.
“Satheesan is merely boasting by saying that the UDF will win 100 seats. If it manages to win that many seats, then I will resign from the SNDP Yogam general secretary post. (Otherwise) Is he ready to go into political exile? The LDF will enjoy a third term in power... their (Congress’) Thiruvananthapuram district president itself said so,” Vellappally said.
His continued tirade against Satheesan came at separate meetings of SNDP Yogam union leaders in North Paravoor and Kochi.
Vellappally continues tirade against Satheesan, calls him arrogant leader
Calling Satheesan an “arrogant leader”, Vellappally claimed that the same leader of Opposition who had called him three weeks ago, seeking a one-to-one meeting, was now raising charges against him. “He thinks he is a superstar... He is trying to create confusion in the minds of the Ezhava community by claiming their support in his constituency. The community should be cautious against such false appeasing attempts,” Vellappally said, while speaking at a meeting of the SNDP union leaders of Kanayannur taluk held at Palarivattom.
Pointing out that he was not against the Muslim community as such, Natesan said he was merely highlighting the “plight” of his community, and that vested interests are now labelling him a “commu-nalist”.
“What I said was in the context of the denial of several rights to the Ezhava community when they (Congress) were in power. What is wrong in that? The Ezhava community should get representation in power. Did they do anything to uplift the community in any way,” he asked. Natesan has been training guns on Satheesan for the past two days, calling him the “worst leader of Opposition Kerala has seen” and even using offensive terms.
A significant part of Vellappally’s criticism revolves around the accusation that Satheesan is against the Ezhava community.
Natesan implied that Satheesan is trying to sideline Ezhava leaders, specifically mentioning former KPCC president K Sudhakaran as someone the leader of Opposition allegedly tried to “oust.”
However, Satheesan has largely dismissed Natesan’s charges, stating that he was saying things that Sree Narayana Guru would not approve of. Satheesan also said a significant portion of the voters in his constituency were from the Ezhava community, with whom he “maintains good relations”.
Notably, prominent Congress leaders have been silent or have offered lukewarm defence to Satheesan, possibly due to reluctance in antagonising a powerful community leader like Vellappally ahead of elections.
Some speculate that certain Congress leaders’ disagreements with Satheesan might also be playing a role.