By G Anand

Copyright thehindu

The Congress appeared to scramble on Thursday to read the political tea leaves of the Nair Service Society’s (NSS) approval of the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) Sabarimala policy.

Congress leaders seemed obsessed with the question of whether NSS general secretary Sukumaran Nair’s expression of implicit trust in the LDF’s promise to safeguard the core tenets of the Ayyappa faith and supercharge Sabarimala’s development signalled a tacit but potentially consequential, pro-government shift in a crucial election year.

Mr. Nair’s assertion that the Congress had failed to guarantee the meaningful protection of Sabarimala conventions also appeared to belie the UDF’s trust that the NSS remained perennially opposed to the LDF since the fraught days of the emotive Save Sabarimala agitation in 2018.

The Congress, apparently anxious, seemed poised to send top emissaries to the NSS headquarters to mend fences. AICC general secretary, organisation, K.C. Venugopal underscored the Congress’ “strong bond” with the NSS and said the party would “rectify any miscommunication immediately.”

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and Indian Union Muslim League general secretary P.M. Salam said the NSS’ “issue-based” approach to Sabarimala did not entail support for the LDF nor a digression from its line of political equidistance between opposing alliances.

Mr. Nair’s criticism that the BJP had failed to honour its promise to pass central legislation to future-proof Sabarimala’s customs from legal challenges, and it had belatedly, like the Congress, jumped into the NSS’ “Save Sabarimala” bandwagon for political dividends, appeared to have stung the party’s State leadership.

It also seemed to worry the BJP, particularly, that the SNDP Yogam, whose political arm Bharath Dharma Jana Sena is an NDA ally, has found itself in agreement with the NSS regarding support for the LDF’s Sabarimala policy. BJP leader V. Muraleedharan said the party had borne the brunt of the 2018 agitation.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State committee member A.P. Anil Kumar stated that the LDF did not view the NSS and SNDP’s support for the government’s commitment to conserve Sabarimala traditions and ensure the pilgrim centre’s development through the prism of electoral politics.

He said the Supreme Court had expressed reservations about the ruling concerning Sabarimala, given that it was a matter of faith.

“Hence, the government has no constitutional obligation to pursue the 2018 order. Moreover, the LDF has stressed the need to fortify Sabarimala’s ancient customs held dear by devotees,” he added.