Rival fronts in Kerala irked by Modi-Natesan meet

Kerala's traditional rival political fronts, the Congress-led UDF and the CPI-M led LDF, appeared to work in unison on Friday as they attacked the much publicised meeting between Kerala's Hindu Ezhava community leader Vellapally Natesan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The meeting took place in Delhi on Thursday night.

A beaming Natesan, after arriving at the airport here on Friday, said the graph of the rival fronts in Kerala were on a downward slide and heading for disaster.

Natesan, the supreme leader of the powerful Shree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Sangom that owes allegiance to social reformer Shree Narayana Guru, has put many on tenterhooks ever since he expressed his desire to form a political party.

In Kerala, Hindus constitute over 50 percent of the 3.30 crore population. Members of the Ezhava community are slightly ahead of the Hindu Nair community in the numbers game.

"The very fact that the rival fronts have turned jittery about the meeting clearly shows the strength of the SNDP. We will have no qualms to form a third front with like-minded organisations and for us neither the CPI-M or the Congress or the BJP are untouchables," said Natesan

Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, who unleashed a verbal attack on Natesan and his corrupt deals, on on Friday said that his Delhi visit was a family visit which included his wife and son, and involved the widening of his 'business'.

Achuthanandan had earlier asked Natesan to reveal how much money he has acquired through appointments made in various educational institutions under the Shree Narayana Trust, which is headed by the latter.

CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the SNDP is now become a Natesan Sangom (personal fiefdom of Natesan).

"The BJP has nothing to lose in Kerala, and it's quite natural to piggyback on anyone. It's time that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy broke his silence on this alliance as the Congress is going to be the biggest gainer if there's going to be a third front," said Balakrishnan.

Congress president V.M. Sudheeran on Friday told reporters that the new found alliance that is on the horizon is one which defies logic as the ideology of the revered leader Shree Narayana Guru was secular and that the BJP-RSS combine are far from being so.

"This new found alliance is not at all going to make any impact at all," said Sudheeran.

Expressing his happiness over the huge media attention that the meeting got, state BJP president V. Muraleedharan said since the last two days, every political leader who matters in the state are speaking on the meeting.

"The media's imagination is running wild. The other day it was written that Natesan is going to lead the third front and he would be the chief ministerial candidate. But Natesan has made it clear that he is not going to contest any polls. So how can I respond to such news reports," said Muraleedharan while speaking to reporters on Friday.

Meanwhile, Natesan has called a meeting of people hailing from different walks of life to explore the possibility of the formation of a political party.

"Yes, I have been invited to attend the meeting and I am going, but it's only from the newspaper reports that I came to know is that the meeting is being called to explore the possibility of a political party. I will give my opinion, if I am asked, and it will be my frank opinion," said popular critic S. Jayasankar.