Alappuzha (Kerala) | Launching a sharp attack on senior Congress leader V M Sudheeran, SNDP Yogam General Secretary Vellappally Natesan on Sunday alleged that the former KPCC president was targeting him out of a long-standing grudge stemming from his defeat in the 2004 Lok Sabha election.

The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam represents the numerically strong Ezhava community.

Natesan was responding to reporters' questions about reports that the vigilance department was preparing to file a chargesheet against him in connection with alleged irregularities in a government-backed microfinance scheme, as well as about demands by family members of his confidant, K K Mahesan, for a probe into his death by suicide.

He alleged that Sudheeran was behind the complaint related to the microfinance scheme.

"I worked against him in Alappuzha, and he was defeated in the election. He still carries that grudge. What did he achieve after that defeat? He is now like a broken vehicle with rust and punctured tyres," Natesan claimed.

Sudheeran was defeated in the 2004 Lok Sabha election from Alappuzha and did not return to electoral politics thereafter.

He later became KPCC president in 2014.

According to Natesan, Sudheeran had wanted to return to electoral politics after that defeat.

"But where could he contest and win?" he asked.

Natesan alleged that while serving as KPCC president, Sudheeran had filed a complaint against him, accusing him of making communal remarks.

"What was the reason the Congress remained out of power for 10 years? It was that complaint," he claimed.

He said a police case had been registered on the basis of Sudheeran's complaint, but alleged that it did not stand legal scrutiny.

"What happened to that case? The Kerala High Court found that there was nothing communal in it," he said.

Referring to the death of his confidant and Kanichukulangara SNDP Union Secretary K K Mahesan in 2020, Natesan claimed that Sudheeran had contacted the deceased's relatives and obtained a written complaint seeking a further investigation into the case.

Mahesan was found hanging at the SNDP Union office in Kanichukulangara in June 2020.

The police had registered a case naming Natesan, his manager K L Asokan and his son Thushar Vellappally as accused.

"Let them file complaints. Then the truth will come out. They will know who I am," he said.

Dismissing the allegations against him as baseless, Natesan said the police had already conducted inquiries into the matter.

He said Mahesan came from a poor family and that he had helped him by providing employment and opportunities within the organisation.

"I will not be affected by these criticisms. I have faced such situations before. I know I have done nothing wrong, and I do not fear criticism," Natesan said.

He also asserted that he was not concerned about any political changes in the state.