Kerala Assembly Elections 2026 | Vellappally family continues to have a foot in two boats

Thiruvananthapuram: While Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) headed by Thushar Vellappally continues to be key coalition partner of Kerala BJP that aims at a clear mandate in Kerala elections, his father Vellappally Natesan, who is the general secretary of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), predicts third consecutive term for the CPM-led Left Democratic Front.

While the father-son duo are often criticized for trying to have their feet in two boats, now Natesan's wife Preethi Natesan is also chipping in by predicting a BJP-NDA sweep.

BDJS's formation was announced by Natesan in 2015 at a major event in Thiruvananthapuram and Thushar, who is vice-president of SNDP, is remaining as its president since then. He even contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election as NDA candidate against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Wayanad.

The whisper in the corridors is that pending cases against Natesan in Kerala and ED probe against him earlier are the reason why the family prefers to have their feet in two boats.

Natesan was even honoured with Padma Bhushan award recently. It raised many eyebrows as he is accused in over hundred cases, mostly pertaining to misappropriation of funds of SNDP's micro-finance scheme, and one case pertaining to the abetment of suicide of an SNDP former official.