Thiruvananthapuram | Separate meetings involving Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan and one of his ministerial colleagues with SNDP Yogam leaders Thushar Vellappally and Vellappally Natesan, respectively, have triggered criticism from a section of Congress leaders and UDF workers.
Natesan, the general secretary of the SNDP Yogam, the organisation representing Kerala's numerically strong Hindu Ezhava community, was strongly criticised by Congress leaders, including Satheesan, for his controversial statements targeting minority communities during the Assembly election campaign.
While Natesan openly supported CPI(M) stalwart Pinarayi Vijayan during the Assembly polls, his son Thushar campaigned for the NDA as the leader of the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), an ally of the BJP in Kerala.
Thushar called on Satheesan at his residence in Aluva on Sunday.
After meeting Satheesan, Thushar, who is also the SNDP Yogam vice-president, said that the Chief Minister "has indicated his willingness to meet everyone". He had said both Satheesan and Natesan may also meet.
This prompted a section of middle-level Congress leaders to launch a scathing attack on Satheesan.
At the same time, a section of cyber activists associated with both the Congress and its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), has launched a campaign against Women and Child Welfare Minister Bindu Krishna for recently visiting Natesan at his residence in Cherthala.
Senior leaders of the UDF, however, have largely remained silent on the issue.
Those opposing the meetings with the Vellappally duo argue that the political power enjoyed by UDF leaders today is also the result of years of opposition to Natesan and his son, who, according to them, are known for their hate-filled rhetoric.
In what was seen as a veiled criticism of Satheesan for meeting Thushar, Congress spokesperson Anoop V R said in a Facebook post that whether it is the senior Vellappally or the junior Vellappally, conferring legitimacy on them through formal discussions is unacceptable, irrespective of who happens to be in power.
"I once again remind the concerned parties that the power they wield today is, in no small measure, the outcome of the struggles waged by people like us against the hate-filled rhetoric of the Vellappallys," he wrote.
The criticism against Bindu Krishna has reportedly come mainly from Congress and IUML supporters.
Comments flooding the minister's Facebook posts claim that she will not even win a panchayat seat in the future, let alone return to the Legislative Assembly.
In a Facebook post, Youth Congress state general secretary V P Dulkhifil said that the news and photographs of Krishna's visit to Natesan had caused "strong resentment, disappointment and distress" among ordinary party workers.
Dulkhifil said that while the SNDP Yogam and its members may have supported Krishna during elections, "It is a reality before us that Natesan has made strong communal remarks and spread misinformation targeting Satheesan, a community that has lived harmoniously in the state, and an entire district."
"He has not shown any willingness to retract or correct those hateful statements," the Youth Congress leader said, in an apparent reference to Natesan's alleged remarks against the Muslim community and Muslim-majority Malappuram district.
"There are certain standards of political propriety that Kerala expects from a minister who has taken an oath on the Constitution and from the Congress movement itself," he wrote.
At the same time, Youth Congress state vice-president Adv Vishnu Sunil alleged that the cyber attacks against Krishna were being orchestrated by the CPI(M).
In a Facebook post, he said the Youth Congress would not allow Minister Krishna to become a casualty of what he described as CPI(M) misinformation campaigns and would defend her to any extent necessary.
There was no immediate response from the CPI(M) to the Youth Congress leader's allegations.
