Cong, CPI-M come down on SNDP Gen Secy for 'cosying' up to BJP

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress and CPI(M) in Kerala Thursday criticised SreeNarayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan for "cosying up" with BJP and said his efforts to take SNDP to the Sangh Parivar camp would not succeed.

KPCC President V M Sudheeran and CPI-M State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan came out against Natesan on a day the leader of SNDP, a powerful organisation of numerically high Ezhava community, is slated to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Sudheeran said attempting to join hands with the Sangh Parivar was a "clear disrespect" to Sree Narayana Guru, who founded SNDP. History would not pardon them for surrendering Guru's teachings and messages, Sudheeran added.

Balakrishnan said Natesan's move to take SNDP to the Sangh Parivar camp would be defeated by Guru's followers.

"People with different political thinking are in SNDP and Naresan has all right to even become BJP state president. But what we are opposing is his attempt to play politics by using SNDP position. We will continue to oppose it," he added.

BJP, with an aim to have political foot hold in the state, was wooing SNDP recently and as part of its effort to cement its ties BJP President Amit Shah had met Natesan recently.

Though BJP's vote percentage has increased in recent times in Kerala, the party had failed to break the bi-polar politics of Congress-led UDF and CPI(M) headed LDF and win assembly or Parliament seat from the state.