Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan backs Vellappally Natesan amid row

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid a row over a controversial speech of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalanayogam (SNDP) general secretary Vellappally Natesan about the Muslim-dominated Malappuram district, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan  defended him on Friday.

While delivering an inaugural address at a function honouring Natesan, Vijayan said that Natesan never made any statements against any religion, adding that his recent remark was against a particular political party, but some sections gave misleading interpretation to it for their political interests.

Vijayan also hailed Natesan's contributions as general secretary of SNDP that represents the Hindu - Ezhava community, which is the largest Hindu community of Kerala.

Vijayan was speaking at a reception to Natesan organised by SNDP at Cherthala in Alappuzha district in connection with Natesan completing three decades as SNDP general secretary.

Natesan while speaking at a function in Malappuram had termed the district as a 'separate nation of a section'. He also said that the backward communities like the Hindu-Ezhava in Malappuram were even being denied basic freedoms and lacked educational institutions.

The statement triggered strong criticism from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and various other forums, whereas BJP leaders backed Natesan. This triggered speculations that Natesan was also moving towards the BJP as his son Thushar Vellappaly led BDJS is already a coalition partner of the NDA.

Vijayan's soft stance towards Natesan seems to be due to the concerns of the CPI(M) over the BJP making inroads into its the Hindu-Ezhava vote banks. Though the Ezhava community was generally considered as traditional vote banks of the communist party, over the last few elections, the BJP could be seen making inroads into the Ezhava vote banks.

After the 2024 Lok Sabha election the CPI(M) leadership had openly criticised that the SNDP leadership was surrendering to the communal agendas of the Sangh Parivar and was deviating from the secular ideologies of its founder social reformer Sree Narayana Guru.

It could be in this context that the CPI(M) leadership is trying to avoid a direct confrontation with the SNDP leadership.