Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has termed unprecedented and potentially dangerous the open intervention in the internal affairs of the Congress by NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair.
Reacting sharply to Mr. Nair’s ultimatum to the Congress leadership here on Monday, Mr. Vijayan said in a statement that the NSS general secretary’s outburst showed him up to be group leader in the Congress. It showed both the true face of the NSS leadership and the weakness of the Congress.
The NSS can no longer claim to be a community organisation or perform the duties of one. Mr. Nair’s disclosure that the Congress leadership had reached a pact with the NSS leadership before the last Assembly elections could only mean that it was an organisation of Congressmen belonging to the Nair community.
The pact between the Congress and the NSS leadership, according to which KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala was to get a post equivalent to that of the Chief Minister if the United Democratic Front came to power, was indicative of the ways in which the Congress surrendered before communal and caste forces. This showed Congress’ political bankruptcy and the NSS’ true colour as an organisation that strived to make Nair leaders as Congress candidates in elections and secure key positions for them.
The Congress leadership should recognise the arrogance implied in the NSS general secretary’s threat to go to Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the issue. Secular sections in the Congress should realise that surrender before such hollow threats from communal organisations would weaken Kerala’s secular fabric in the long run, Mr. Vijayan said.
