Sudheeran says Vellapally should quit as SNDP general secretary

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president V.M. Sudheeran said on Wednesday that Hindu Ezhava leader Vellapally Natesan, the general secretary of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, should quit his post.

"The way he speaks and the way he conducts himself is against the teachings and ideology of the revered social reformer Sree Narayana Guru. He should immediately step down from his post as general secretary," Sudheeran told reporters here.

Sudheeran's statement came after a police case was registered against Natesan for making a 'hate speech' over an auto-rickshaw driver Naushad, who died while trying to rescue two workers from a sewage canal.

Naushad died in Kozhikode last week, when he entered a manhole to rescue two migrant labourers who got stuck there.

Natesan, who is on a state-wide yatra promoting a yet-to-be-announced political party of Hindus, had said that if anyone has to get compensation from the Chandy government, he should either be a Muslim or a Christian.

Reacting to Sudheeran's resignation call, Natesan's son Tushar Vallaplly, the number two in the SNDP Yogam, said: "The present general secretary (Natesan) is one who has been elected through a democratic process and not like Sudheeran who was nominated to the post of president. Moreover, who is he to make all these statements."

"We are not worried about the case or if he is going to be arrested. He will not seek anticipatory bail," added Tushar.

Natesan said that he would announce a new party for Hindus on Saturday (December 5), the day his yatra concludes here.

Natesan is the general secretary of the powerful Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, the outfit of the Hindu Ezhava community which constitutes a majority of the Hindus in the state.

Hindus constitute over 50 percent of Kerala's 3.25 crore population.