By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) appeared to rally behind Nair Service Society (NSS) general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair who has been the target of a vilification campaign by groups opposed to his “qualified support” for the Kerala government’s “commitment” to protect Sabarimala’s custom, including future litigation challenging the iconic temple’s customary ban on the entry of women of child-bearing age.
The NSS had also appeared to endorse the LDF’s roadmap for developing Sabarimala as an international pilgrimage centre by participating in the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB)-sponsored Global Ayyappa Sangham, which concluded recently in Pampa.
Speaking at an NSS taluk union meeting in Pathanamthitta, Kerala Congress (B) leader and Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar slammed the “scattered protests by a few disgruntled elements.” He said the NSS’s administrative body, consisting of 300 members, had backed Mr. Nair’s position on Sabarimala. (Mr. Ganesh Kumar is the NSS Pathanamthitta taluk union president and a member of its Director Board.)
Burned in effigy
Mr. Ganesh Kumar’s statement came against the backdrop of some persons, claiming to be NSS members, burning Mr. Nair in effigy in Neyyattinkara. Furthermore, a few flex boards disavowing Mr. Nair’s “newfound affinity to the LDF” appeared in some localities in Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts.
“Any coward can spend ₹250 for a hoarding and install it on the road under the cover of darkness. Some sections of the media are lionising such cowardice and misleadingly portraying that Mr. Nair is facing a rebellion in the NSS,” Mr. Ganesh Kumar added.
Based on issues
Mr. Ganesh Kumar said Mr. Nair had not veered from the NSS’s stated principle of political equi-distance. “Mr. Nair has opposed the LDF in the past based on issues which concern the NSS and society at large. He has criticised the Congress and also the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mr. Nair’s approach to government and political parties is entirely issue-based. It does not entail that the NSS is choosing one party over the other,” he added.
Mr. Ganesh Kumar said the NSS had always engaged successive governments on varied issue. “Such interactions are not a signal of political partisanship,” he added.
Cong. distances from campaign
Meanwhile, the Congress distanced itself from the campaign against Mr. Nair. “The Congress is not party to criticisms against the NSS,” All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal told reporters in Alappuzha.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala stated that the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) did not view the NSS’s qualified support for the government’s Sabarimala policy through the narrow prism of electoral politics. “The general secretary has pointedly reiterated NSS’s line of political equi-distance,” he added.
