Kerala polls looming, Ezhava, Nair outfits pitch for ‘Hindu unity’

While SNDP Yogam represents the backward Ezhava community, NSS is an organisation of the forward Nair caste. Significantly, Natesan is known for his pro-Communist Party of India (Marxist) stance and has predicted a third term for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. His son Thushar is the president of the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena, an ally of the BJP in Kerala and convener of NDA, making the move politically intriguing.

After the meeting, Natesan told the media that unity among Hindu organisations was the “need of the hour” Minutes later, NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair echoed the sentiment, saying: “Let them (Thushar) come. We will have discussions with them on how the unity should be taken forward.”

In its resolution, the Yogam general council said it was “inevitable to maintain social justice, equality and secularism in Malappuram (where Muslims are a numerical majority)”. “Organisations like the Muslim League are using political power to ensure benefits for their own members. Whenever the Congress-led UDF comes to power in Kerala, departments which handle 65 percent of the state exchequer are managed by representatives of parties which believe in religion-based governance. There is discrimination and denial of social justice towards members of the majority community,” the resolution said.

Natesan has also sought to include Christians in the unity plan. Talk of “Hindu unity” gained traction after he built an anti-Muslim plank over the past year, at one point claiming that backward communities were living in fear and “couldn’t even breathe freely” in the Muslim-dominated Malappuram district, which he described as “a special country and a state with a special section of people”.

While the ruling CPI(M) sought to downplay the remarks as being aimed at the IUML, the Congress, led by Opposition Leader V D Satheesan, repeatedly flagged them as “divisive”.

The political temperature rose last week when Satheesan, in the presence of Vijayan, said hate speeches should not be encouraged and advised caution “when we give lift for others in our cars” — a reference to Vijayan giving Natesan a ride last September, shortly after his anti-Muslim tirade.

Like Natesan, the NSS and Sukumaran Nair have also been critical of Satheesan, who had earlier said community and religious organisations should not meddle in the affairs of political parties. While Satheesan remains one of the Congress’s chief ministerial front-runners, Nair appeared to back senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala, saying a few days ago that no one other than him was “eligible to hold the post of CM”.

On Wednesday too, Nair took potshots at Satheesan, calling him an “inflated leader”.
“He’s not a big person,” Nair said — remarks that came despite a pre-election survey by a national news channel that found Satheesan to be the most popular leader in the Kerala Congress.

For their part, both the CPI(M) and the Congress appear guarded in their response to the proposed Hindu unity alliance, cautiously welcoming it. Meanwhile, no Nair or Ezhava leader within the Congress has come forward to defend Satheesan on issues related to the NSS and SNDP Yogam, sparking speculation that the party is divided on the issue.

The plans for such a united Hindu front come at a time when the ruling CPI(M) is trying to win back the Hindu vote bank. Both the NSS and SNDP Yogam had attempted a similar unity in 2012, when the Congress-led UDF was in power, driven then too by the perception that minorities had made undue gains. However, consensus on the alliance remained elusive.