Congress reaches out to NSS after its support for LDF on Sabarimala

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 25 (PTI) Stunned by the Nair Service Society (NSS)'s open support to the ruling LDF's stance on the Sabarimala issue, the Congress top brass on Friday stepped in, saying any communication gaps with its leadership would be resolved.

"Congress is a party that reflects deeply on its concerns. If there has been any lack of communication, it will be addressed," AICC general secretary K C Venugopal told the media in Delhi, after NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair openly said that he trusts the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government, which had assured NSS that the age-old rituals in Sabarimala would be preserved.

After the Congress declined to participate in the Global Ayyappa Sangamam organised by the Left government in Pamba on September 20, and following allegations of the party favouring minorities in the state, Nair, known for his close ties with Congress-led UDF leaders, also criticised the party, saying it appears reluctant to secure Hindu votes.

Venugopal claimed that the NSS General Secretary has made it clear that there is no change in their stand of equidistance towards all parties for the elections.

"In every matter, political parties and community organisations will have their own opinions and decisions. The two should not be confused or mixed up," the AICC general secretary said.

He said Congress takes a stand based on political perspective and experience, and NSS does the same. "Congress respects their positions," Venugopal said.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, said the party has no dispute or differences of opinion with any community or religious organisation on the Sabarimala issue and that it avoided the Global Ayyappa Sangamam for political reasons.

His statement also comes after, besides NSS, Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, an organisation of numerically strong Ezhava community, came out in support of the ruling LDF stance on the Sabarimala issue.

"They (NSS and SNDP) have their own opinion, just like we are entitled to our views. We stand firm on the decision we took. It was a political decision taken by the Congress and UDF and we believe it was correct. We are not in conflict with any religious organisation or community," he said.

According to Satheesan, it was the LDF government that not only failed to protect the rituals of Sabarimala but also actively violated the same by providing entry into the shrine to women under police escort.

"We were the only ones who tried to protect the rituals of Sabarimala," he claimed.

The Congress leader further said that if the Left government were with the devotees, it should have withdrawn the cases registered against thousands of NSS workers, including women, for protesting against women's entry into Sabarimala.

"The government had promised to do so. But it has not done that to date." He claimed that the Congress and UDF have always taken a secular stand and opposed both minority and majority communalism.

"However, before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, Pinarayi Vijayan was appeasing minority communalism, and now, in the run-up to the state elections next year, he is trying to appease majority communalism," Satheesan alleged.

Congress veteran leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan also spoke along similar lines, saying that the UDF and Congress have no dispute with the NSS. "We have never had a dispute with them, and there is no need for that now," he said.

Radhakrishnan said that both the Congress-led UDF and the NSS are moving in the same direction -- protection of the rituals and beliefs connected with Sabarimala.

He said that the NSS always had a consistent stand and all that it has done till now was protecting the rituals and beliefs associated with Sabarimala.

"It is the government's stance which has seen a major change," he added.

In his interview, Sukumaran Nair had also criticised the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for its inaction after the Supreme Court verdict allowing women's entry to the Sabarimala temple.

The Congress and the BJP have pressed the Left government to drop the cases filed against devotees who took to the streets in 2018 to oppose the entry of women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala hill shrine following the Supreme Court.

They have also demanded that the CPI(M)-led government withdraw the affidavit it submitted to the Supreme Court backing the entry of young women into the temple.

It was the NSS that spearheaded the protests seven years ago, opposing the Left government’s decision to implement the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all age groups into the hill shrine, in violation of the age-old custom that bars menstruating women from the temple.

NSS sent its representative to the Global Ayyappa Sangamam on September 20 after the Left government signalled that it no longer wished to violate the age-old temple custom or confront the faithful so directly. PTI HMP TGB HMP ADB