The Nair Service Society (NSS) in Kerala will not be joining hands with the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP). The announcement came after the NSS’ director board meeting held on Monday, January 26. In a press statement, NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair said that the organisation “cannot deviate from its foundational principles”.
Earlier, the two caste organisations, representing the Nair and Ezhava communities in Kerala, had indicated an alliance. More than a week ago, SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan had hinted at the two organisations finding common ground on the contentious issue of caste-based reservations. According to The Hindu, Natesan explained that the introduction of reservations for economically weaker sections (EWS) had “rendered the reservation issue redundant”.
NSS’ Sukumaran Nair had welcomed Natesan’s standpoint, adding that this was only his personal opinion and that a final decision would be made only after the director board meeting.
The state had witnessed several political conversations in the past week, with both the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clamouring to make the most of a potential alliance ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.
“NSS-SNDP unity has failed many times for various reasons, and the current political situation itself makes it clear that any attempt at unity will fail again. Moreover, the NSS cannot deviate from its foundational principles,” the NSS said in a statement. It added that an alliance is particularly impossible as the NSS has maintained the same relationship with all political parties.