NSS-SNDP alliance is an electoral choreography favouring Left in Kerala

If the newfound NSS-SNDP camaraderie were truly about Hindu unity, it would come with clear demands and principles

In 1927, at the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam annual meet in Pallathuruthy, Sree Narayana Guru spoke of bringing together all those who believed in Sanatana Dharma within the organisation’s ambit. Nearly a century later, SNDP Yogam president Vellappally Natesan invokes a similar vocabulary, but with a distinctly contemporary political purpose. His call is not merely for cohesion among the Hindus, but also for adding Nasranis (Christians) into the mix.

Taken at face value, it reads as an appeal for Hindu-Christian unity. Read politically, it is a proposal for an extended majority coalition built on religious identity. What is striking is not who is being invited, but who is being left out. That omission is not incidental. It is the point.

Sanctification in controversy

Natesan’s recent statements have triggered widespread criticism for their anti-Muslim tone and implication. What adds an unusual edge to this moment is the political cover he appears to enjoy from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who considers Natesan as one who embodies Narayana Guru’s principles, a claim that might sit uneasily with even the staunchest Natesan loyalists.

When Guru’s name is used as a shield for political mobilisation, it attempts to convert his legacy into an election instrument. The praise, thus, validates Natesan in the present, and rewrites the frame in which his statements are to be received.

CPI(M) harvesting BJP’s wish list

Natesan’s theme overlaps with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s project to build a Hindu-Christian coalition, but the divergence is in the beneficiary. He functions as an amplifier of a CPI(M) narrative that leans into identity reassurance.

G Sukumaran Nair, the head of the Nair Service Society (NSS), is travelling a similar route, though with different emphases. Their collaboration is a transactional convergence shaped by the CPI(M)’s immediate vulnerability.

Optics of a new compact

The last parliamentary election results confirmed that the CPI(M) had reasons to worry about its hold on Hindu voters. To reverse that drift, it needed intermediaries who could legitimise cultural reassurance. The Global Ayyappa Summit held last year was the first political instrument that made this possible.

It offered the SNDP and the NSS proximity to power, with the optics of cultural guardianship. Amid controversies, Vijayan guarded Natesan. The NSS presence at the event surprised many, given its strong anti-CPI(M) stance after the Sabarimala women's entry controversy and Nair’s own call for a change of government in 2021. What transpired between Nair and the CPI(M) since then remains outside public scrutiny.

The SNDP and the NSS represent a substantial section of Kerala’s Hindu electorate, making their coming together a telling political prospect. With the CPI(M) sensing that it may struggle to retain Muslim support in the upcoming Assembly elections, it has a clear incentive to build rapport with formations that are at odds with communities or parties aligned with its principal rival, the Congress.

Target and casualty

V D Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition, has become the central target of the Natesan-Nair duo. The attacks often move beyond political critique into personal derision, with Natesan even painting Satheesan as anti-Ezhava. When Natesan attacks the Muslim League and the Jamaat-e-Islami, it suits the CPI(M) agenda by creating an emotive majority grievance, and pushing the Congress into a defensive crouch.

But Nair is noticeably softer on both. The division of labour is obvious. One sharpens the minority-anxiety line. The other keeps channels open.

Congress leaders find themselves constrained in responding to the SNDP and the NSS. Any sharp rebuttal can be projected as an attack on community organisations, which then gets translated into an attack on the communities themselves. Satheesan, otherwise combative, appears to have tempered his stance, even conceding that they are entitled to criticise him. This asymmetry will only dilute his political posture, and blunt the moral clarity he often projects.

Absent checklist

If this newfound camaraderie were truly about Hindu unity, it would come with clear demands and principles. Yet, despite the rhetoric, no other Hindu community organisations are visibly part of this SNDP-NSS effort. There is no stated policy, no public checklist, no reform agenda, and no institutional road map.

If the goal were moral seriousness, the first demand should have been accountability from the CPI(M) on the Sabarimala gold-theft controversy and the presence of party-linked individuals among the accused. Silence here exposes the nature of the arrangement.

Until the architects of this realignment spell out what they seek, their calls will remain electoral choreography favouring the ruling party, rather than a sincere attempt at social unity.

Sreejith Panickar is a political commentator. X: @PanickarS.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.