The Congress in Kerala has surrendered itself to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and it has no existence of its own and is bereft of any loyal community-based support, said prominent Ezhava community leader Vellappally Natesan.
“The Congress has many leaders in Kerala. But the problem is that its existence is linked to the Muslim League. That’s their failure. They have surrendered themselves to the League (IUML). They dance to the tunes of the League,” Natesan said in the latest episode of the Varthamanam podcast of The Indian Express Malayalam that will be streamed on Sunday. “The Congress today cannot induct someone or make an appointment without approval from Malappuram (the IUML headquarters),” he said.
“When Oommen Chandy, such a pure soul he was, became the CM, Panakkad (Thangal family that controls the decision making in the IUML) declared the portfolios. Has it ever happened in Kerala? Is it democracy or the dominance of one community? The key ministries were taken by them… PWD, Industry, Education… They (IUML leaders) are really arrogant…When I talk about such injustice, the entire community attacks me. They even burnt my effigies… But I am not scared of anything.”
Natesan, general secretary of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), the leading social-reform organisation of the influential Ezhava community in Kerala, said that the Congress party does not have any loyal support. “The Christians are with Kerala Congress (currently an ally of the CPI-M led LDF), the upper caste Hindus prefer BJP, the Congress has some from every section. But without the League support, Congress is zero,” he said.
Lauding the current Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s style of functioning, the Ezhava leader said the BJP had “resurged” in Kerala and it would cut into the Congress’s votes. “Their vote share will go up.. I cannot say anything about the seats… But when their vote share goes up, who is going to be at the loss? It’s the Congress. If the LDF loses 5%, the UDF will lose 20%.”
Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a political party founded by Natesan and other SNDP leaders, is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA and his son Thushar Vellappally is its national president.
Natesan, 89, criticised both the Christian and Muslim leaders in the previous governments for ignoring the Ezhava community at the cost of their own. Alleging bias against the Ezhava community on the education front, Natesan said: “Alphons Kannanthanam (a former civil servant who joined the BJP and was a Union minister) said that he cleared 34 educational institutions to the Christian community when he was in the Education ministry under P J Joseph. The minister (Joseph) had favoured the Church and the Christians… I raised objections to it, but that does not mean I am against Christians.”
Natesan argued that the colleges run by the SNDP were sanctioned when R Shankar (who came from the Ezhava community) was the Kerala CM (1962-1964). “The minister (Joseph) should have done justice to all communities. When we raised our voice, they gave us three-four new courses which no one would want.”
He said the IUML, with which the SNDP joined hands earlier to fight for the rights of the backward communities, had abandoned the (Ezhava) community once it became a key part of the successive Congress-led UDF governments. “We were together and calling each other bhai bhai.. But when the IUML had the Education ministry, we literally begged them to grant us a school or a college in Malappuram… The League has at least 17 colleges in Malappuram district itself… We have 17 all across Kerala… When we complain about such discrimination, they brand me as a casteist.”
Natesan also criticised Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan. According to him, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government would win the next election too. “Satheesan is enough to make Pinarayi Vijayan win again. He was okay as an MLA but after becoming the LoP, he started behaving as if he was the CM,” the Ezhava leader said.
Natesan, who is credited with redefining the role of the SNDP for political empowerment of his community, said rewards meant little to him. “I do not want Padma Bhushan… What value does it have? It has become a thing that can be purchased. There was a time when it had value,” he said.