Thiruvananthapuram: The Nair Service Society (NSS) has abruptly withdrawn from a proposed alliance with the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, a day after the Centre awarded the Padma Bhushan to SNDP chief Vellappally Natesan.
On Monday, NSS chief G. Sukumaran Nair said the alliance between the two prominent Kerala community organisations was “impractical”, citing the SNDP’s political affiliations as the reason for the reversal ahead of the state assembly elections.
The NSS, which represents the Nair community, and the SNDP, representing the Ezhava community, have attempted unity in 1950, 2005, and between 2012 and 2014—all unsuccessful. The two outfits don’t contest polls, but can influence voter behaviour, political analysts say.
Sukumaran Nair said Natesan’s decision to send his son Thushar Vellappally—president of the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a BJP ally in Kerala—for deliberations raised red flags.
“If a leader, who doesn’t speak politically, sends his son, who is a political leader, something is behind this. We just realised it,” Sukumaran Nair said, adding that unity would entail more deliberations and plans rather than announcements, and that even before such steps the organisation had sent a political leader.
In a statement issued after its board meeting Monday, the NSS said the unity the organisation cannot “deviate from its principles”.
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Political calculations
Founded in 1914, the NSS is known for maintaining “equidistance” from all political parties, though it is largely seen as close to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). The SNDP chief maintains close ties with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership, while his son’s BDJS is aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
“The NSS’s decision would have been to not lose its political bargaining power with the Congress, it enjoys. Sukumaran Nair is now saying that the SNDP has political motives. It wasn’t unknown. He would have understood the BJP’s design. He is not a person who would like Vellappally getting Padma Bhushan instead of him,” Joseph C. Mathew, a political analyst based in Kerala, said, adding that the proposed ‘Hindu unity’ for the SNDP would have been with the BJP or the Left.
“As Sukumaran Nair is concerned, he will not get the bargaining power he has with any other fronts,” he said, warning that if the NSS breaks away from the UDF due to a rift with opposition leader V.D. Satheesan and the UDF wins the polls, Sukumaran Nair would lose his reputation.
The Padma angle
The development follows Sunday’s Padma Bhushan announcement for Natesan, who has courted controversy in recent months with repeated remarks against the Muslim community and the Muslim-dominated Malappuram district.
In April 2025, Natesan said Malappuram district was like another state, dominated by one community, where backward people cannot live freely. Earlier this month, he was named in a police complaint after calling a Muslim journalist a terrorist during a press interaction.
While these statements drew criticism from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the party said it respects the leader and the organisation, but iterated that it will not be responsible for his statements.
Brief possibility of alliance
The unity discussion began last week after Natesan said on 18 January that the unity of communities from “Nayadi (hunting community) to Nasrani (Christian)” was essential.
“When other communities stand united and gain from it, it is not suitable for the Hindu communities to stand divided in the present times. The community members wish for their unity,” Natesan had told reporters in Alappuzha.
Sukumaran Nair initially responded positively, saying unity could be possible without external political support. On the same day, Nair also targeted Satheesan for alleged “hypocrisy” and said the opposition leader’s statements were undermining Congress state chief Sunny Joseph.
Natesan also criticised Satheesan, calling him a “flower that bloomed just yesterday”, implying his lack of experience. The SNDP chief declined to comment on Monday’s development, saying he needs more time to understand the NSS stand and their statement.
Reacting to the reversal, Satheesan said the UDF will not interfere in internal community matters. “The communities decide the decision on unity. We will not intervene in such internal matters. We don’t have any opinion on it. They will have their own reasons to unite or not. It’s not something that concerns us.”
(Edited by Prerna Madan)
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