NSS Withdraws From Proposed Unity Move With SNDP Yogam

The proposed move towards unity between community organisations NSS and SNDP Yogam proved short-lived, with the former on Monday announcing its withdrawal from the initiative.

The Nair Service Society (NSS) said the decision was taken at a meeting of its director board held at Perunna.

A release said the statement was signed by NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair.

"Due to various reasons, earlier attempts at NSS–SNDP Yogam unity did not succeed. A similar move, considering the present political situation, is also unlikely to succeed," the statement said.

The NSS represents the forward Nair community, while the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam is an organisation representing the numerically strong Ezhava community.

According to the statement, such unity was impractical, particularly as the NSS maintains equal distance from all political parties.

The NSS said it would continue to maintain cordial relations with the SNDP Yogam, as it does with other community organisations.

"The board has decided that while cordial relations will continue, a formal unity move is not feasible at this time," the release said.

Reacting to the development, SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan said he would need to go through the NSS statement and declined to comment further.

Earlier this month, both Natesan and Nair had separately spoken to the media about the possibility of unity between the two organisations after they criticised Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan.

Meanwhile, Natesan was on Sunday announced as a recipient of the Padma Bhushan award.

Nair told reporters that the NSS decided to withdraw from the proposed unity move after suspecting political motives behind the initiative.

He said Natesan had proposed sending his son, Tushar Vellapally, who is associated with the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), an NDA ally, to discuss the unity proposal with him.

"Their approach towards this unity move was suspicious," Nair said.

Nair added that he had placed the proposal to withdraw from the unity initiative before the NSS director board, which subsequently endorsed the decision.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders chose to keep a distance from the issue.

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan said the Congress wanted all communities to remain united, but decisions on unity or otherwise must be taken by the organisations concerned. "Congress does not intervene in the internal matters of community organisations. Likewise, we do not allow others to intervene in our matters," Satheesan said. He also congratulated SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan on being conferred the Padma Bhushan award.

"He represents a great organisation. I congratulate everyone who has received Padma awards," he said, adding that he had no allegation that the honour was linked to political considerations. UDF convener Adoor Prakash said the Congress wanted to move forward together with all community organisations. "Our aim is to take everyone together and we will continue with that policy,' he said, adding that the UDF would attempt to bring both the NSS and SNDP together.

When asked whether the NSS had softened its stand towards the UDF, Prakash said there had been no meetings with community leaders. "NSS and SNDP are organisations that clearly understand the thinking of the people of Kerala," he said.