Kochi, Feb 8 (PTI) SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan said on Sunday that the initiative he took for unity with the NSS had no political motive.
He was speaking to reporters in response to questions about his move to bring Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, which represents the Ezhava community, and the Nair Service Society (NSS), which represents the Nair community, closer together, a move that later collapsed.
Natesan said there was no need for further media discussion on the issue.
“There was no political motive behind it. The move was not focused on elections,” he said.
Asked about NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair’s lack of faith in the unity initiative, Natesan said he would not respond to that. “Let the faith save,” he said.
On whether the SNDP Yogam would support any political party in the upcoming elections, he said that people in his community support different parties and would vote according to their individual choices.
“I don’t think the SNDP Yogam will take a decision asking community members to vote for a particular party,” he said.
He said that even to decide whether to support any party, a meeting of the SNDP Yogam board would be required.
“Only the board council can take such a decision. Let the election be declared and candidates announced. Only after that, the board will meet and express its opinion,” he said.
Asked about UDF convenor Adoor Prakash being questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Sabarimala gold loss case, Natesan said the issue would be kept alive till the elections.
“After that, there will be no talk of gold, plate or Ayyappa. I believe this is an election stunt and will remain so till then,” he said.
He said it was not appropriate to drag either the UDF or the LDF into the Sabarimala gold loss case, as only some individuals might have colluded with the Tantri (Chief Priest) and other officials.
“We cannot blame a party for it. These are individual acts,” he said.
Natesan was recently honoured with the Padma Bhushan by the central government.
Last month, he proposed a move toward unity between SNDP Yogan and NSS, which Nair initially agreed to.
However, Nair later withdrew from it after an NSS board meeting, citing suspicion of political motives behind the move. PTI TBA TBA KH
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