Kerala district Congress condemns Hindu leaders

The Alappuzha District Congress Committee Thursday passed a resolution condemning the frequent outbursts of Hindu group leaders against top party leaders in Kerala.

The Congress party is upset over the manner in which leaders of groups like SNDP (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana) general secretary Velapally Natesan and NSS (Nair Service Society) general secretary Sukumaran Nair recently slammed Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and state Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala.

Speaking to IANS, Alappuzha District Congress president and former legislator A.A. Shukoor said the resolution came as a spontaneous reaction from the party office bearers at a meeting Thursday.

"These two leaders (Natesan and Nair) extract everything they want from our leaders and then they condemn them. They have separate yardsticks for the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) leaders and the Congress leaders. They openly attack our leaders and prefer to keep mum on the CPI-M leaders," Shukoor said.

"Natesan's son is the director and board member of the famed Guruvayoor Devasom. They should look back at themselves as to who they were before becoming leaders of their communities," he said.

Natesan had recently stated in public that during the 2011 assembly polls Chennithala had requested for his help as Chandy was trying to ensure that he was defeated in the polls. Nair had said that Chandy would use anyone and then walk away.

With the Congress district adopting a resolution condemning them, Natesan complained that he received a threatening phone call from abroad from a person who claimed he was a relative of Chennithala.

"I checked with police and came to know that the call was from Dubai," Natesan told reporters.

Nair has claimed that his phone is being tapped under instructions from the state home department. The allegations were quickly denied by Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. But an inquiry was ordered in this connection.

"No such thing has happened. I am saddened by his (Nair's) allegations," Radhakrishnan said.