V.D. Satheesan says UDF not perturbed by NSS support for LDF’s Sabarimala policy

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the Nair Service Society (NSS) general secretary, G. Sukumaran Nair’s, “reaffirmation” of the influential social organisation’s “unflinching support” for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s policy concerning protection of Sabarimala temple customs, pilgrim welfare and the hill-shrine’s development did not perturb the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) in the least.

Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Satheesan dismissed the question of whether the UDF would “mend fences” with the NSS, given the organisation’s “newfound affinity” towards the LDF in a crucial election year. Mr. Satheesan said the question was irrelevant since the UDF had no fall out with the NSS.

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“The NSS reserves the right to formulate its own issue-based approach. The SNDP Yogam also attended the Government-sponsored Global Ayyappa Sanghamam. Some other organisations, notably the Kerala Brahmana Sabha and the Kerala Yoga Kshema Sabha, stayed away. Social organisations have the freedom to calibrate their policy. “The UDF has not complained or sought to find fault with them,” he added.

Mr. Satheesan reiterated his earlier stance that the UDF’s non-cooperation with the Sanghamam was a “political decision set in stone.”

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“The UDF has not moved an inch from its political resolve to expose the LDF’s election eve antic to win Hindu votes by organising a poorly attended and mendacious last-minute conference on Sabarimala development as a political afterthought,” he stated. 

Mr. Satheesan accused the LDF of courting Hindu majoritarian votes after its political gambit to corral minority votes failed. He stated that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] ‘s rightward drift was evident at the Sanghamam.

Mr. Satheesan noted that the Devaswom Minister, V.N. Vasavan, read out Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath’s blessings at the conference.

In an oblique dig at SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan, Mr. Satheesan said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan personally escorted a “person who spews communal venom against minorities” to the venue in his official car. 

Mr. Satheesan stated that the UDF, in contrast, opposed majority and minority communalism and did not practice appeasement politics.

He demanded the LDF express its commitment to Sabarimala by withdrawing the Supreme Court affidavit endorsing the entry of women into the temple and withdrawing hundreds of cases registered against Ayyappa devotees during the tumultuous “Save Sabarimala Campaign” in 2018.