Isro ex-chief may head BJP-backed front in Kerala

Efforts of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam to form a political party in Kerala picked pace, as it nominated former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman G Madhavan Nair as chief patron of a state-wide rally being called a teaser for its political foray.

Nair’s association with the SNDP — an influential collective of Kerala’s Ezhava community — is also significant in that the BJP is forging an alliance with the Yogam that could double up as a long-debated third front in the state.

Nair confirmed to reporters in Kochi on Tuesday that a “suggestion” for his involvement in the Samatva Munnetta Yatra has been made and he was mulling over possibilities of associating with the rally.

He denied political attributes to the development, but hinted that there was space for a third front in the state that has continued to swing between two political fronts led by the Congress and the CPM.

“There is disillusionment among the people of Kerala with respect to prevalent politics. The movement could nurture a new kind of politics that has the state’s development as key agenda,” said the Isro ex-chief.