Sree Narayana Guru birth anniversary row raises Ezhava vote concerns in BJP's Kerala unit

Thiruvananthapuram: Even when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was lauding the contribution of social reformer from Kerala Sree Narayana Guru on his birth anniversary on Sunday, resentment was brewing in the BJP in Kerala with party leaders asking the party state leadership whether discrimination was being shown towards the social reformer as he was from Hindu-Ezhava OBC community.

BJP state leadership's directive to the OBC Morcha state unit to hold events marking the birth anniversary of Sree Narayana Guru had irked a section in the party who felt it as an attempt to frame the Guru as an OBC leader.

A party national council member even resigned by openly registering his protest.

The fresh developments could be a setback to  the BJP's efforts to make inroads into the Hindu - Ezhava vote banks. Ezhava is the largest Hindu community in Kerala and it was traditionally considered as a pro-left vote bank. But in the previous election BJP made inroads into Ezhava vote banks.

BJP national council member K A Bahuleyan, who is also assistant secretary of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), expressed his reservations and announced his resignation from the national council through  a social media post.

He asked whether the BJP was still considering Sree Narayana Guru as an OBC leader and hence the OBC Morcha was asked to hold the birth anniversary celebration. With regard to Sree Krishna Jayanti it was the BJP that organised the celebrations, he pointed out.

Former state police chief and vice-president of All India Sabarimala Action Council T P Senkumar also openly flayed BJP's decision to entrust with the OBC Morcha the responsibility to hold Sree Narayana Guru Jayathi. The decision is against Sree Narayana Guru's preaching that we do not belong to any particular caste or religion, he said.

Meanwhile, BJP's coalition partner BDJS, which is associated with the SNDP Yogam, is trying to consider the resentment as a non-issue.

BDJS president Thushar Vellapally told DH that the OBC Morcha was only entrusted with the responsibility of co-ordinating the programmes. The BJP state leaders were very much involved in the events and hence there was no sort of discrimination, he said. 

BJP national executive member P K Krishna Das  also tried to defend by stating that BJP follows the preachings of Sree Narayana Guru and Guru's birth anniversary was celebrated at party offices.