Thiruvananthapuram: Having always claimed ‘equidistance’ from all political parties, the influential Nair Service Society (NSS) appears to now be leaning towards the Left ahead of assembly elections in Kerala.
On polling day in 2021, NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair had said they wanted a regime change, claiming that people were upset with the incumbent Left. This had come after the LDF government supported the 2018 Supreme Court judgment allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple.
Nearly five years later, the NSS is now openly supporting the LDF’s stand on another matter concerning the Sabarimala temple. Sukumaran Nair last week supported the Left’s decision on holding the Global Ayyappa Conclave in Pathanamthitta district, expressing confidence that the ruling party would uphold faith.
NSS vice president M. Sangeeth Kumar told ThePrint that the general secretary’s stand reflects the sentiments of the organisation and the community. “His statement reflects our sentiment. And we stand by his comments,” Kumar said.
The statement came days after the Kerala LDF government held the Global Ayyappa Devotees Conference in Pathanamthitta, intended to transform the temple into a global pilgrimage site. The event assumed much significance as it was conducted six years after the Supreme Court landmark judgment allowing women of all ages into a temple which traditionally barred them. In the succeeding Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the LDF had lost 19 of the 20 seats it contested against the Congress‑led UDF. The conclave on 20 September, was attended by NSS as well as the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), another community organisation representing the state’s Ezhava community.
The Opposition, though, called it an ‘eyewash’ ahead of the polls. The UDF also demanded that the ruling LDF withdraw its affidavit in the Supreme Court supporting the judgment, along with withdrawing cases filed against protesters who opposed the judgment.
The NSS statement was welcomed by the CPI(M), which hailed the organisation as one that engages in constructive criticism based on issues.
Talking to ThePrint, CPI(M) leader and its Thiruvananthapuram district secretary V. Joy said the party welcomes the organisation’s opinion in this matter.
“The Devaswom Board conducted the Ayyappa conclave, which held discussions on Sabarimala development. Naturally, community organisations will have their own involvement and opinions on this. That is what has happened,” Joy said, adding that the objective of the alternative conference held by the Sangh Parivar was to spew hatred.
The party that could be most worried about the Nair Service Society’s support of the Left is the Congress, which has traditionally enjoyed support of the Nair community.
The party, which has been in opposition in Kerala since 2016, is expecting nothing less than a victory in the upcoming assembly polls.
Kerala Congress chief Sunny Joseph said Thursday that the party was the first to stand up for tradition soon after the 2018 Sabarimala verdict. It was the Left government that filed cases against Congress supporters who attended protest marches, he added.
“We realised that the conference held by the government now is an eyewash, without correcting their wrongdoings. That is why we didn’t support it. The Indian National Congress has always had a good relationship with the NSS. We will consider their suggestions. Sukumaran Nair is considered a close friend and brother to all leaders,” Joseph said, adding that NSS always maintained an equal distance with all parties and that hadn’t changed after the conference.
Notably, the the NSS’s support for the Left comes at a time the Congress is trying to retain its support within the community. In January, Congress’s Ramesh Chennithala spoke about his “unbreakable bond” with the NSS, hailed it as the brand ambassador of secularism, and attended the Mannam Jayanthi celebrations at NSS headquarters in Kottayam.
Congress spokesperson Sandeep Varrier told ThePrint that the party is seeing NSS’s statement as just an issue‑based response. “It was the Congress that actually took a stand to protect the faith all the time. For the elections, UDF will definitely benefit from the strong anti‑incumbency sentiment. People will not vote just because a community leader said so when there are real issues that affect their day‑to‑day life,” he said.
Talking to ThePrint, Kerala political analyst Joseph C. Mathew said the issue might be a setback for the Congress. “Sukumaran Nair is a Congressman. So, this is a setback for the Congress in that way. But Sukumaran Nair, when it comes to real things, will find Congress a better place to bargain for his demands. This incident will give him much bargaining power. The Congress has already started to budge,” Joseph said.
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NSS and its conflicts with the Left
Founded in 1914 by social reformer Mannathu Padmanabhan, the NSS is an organisation that professes to work for social and economic upliftment of the upper‑caste Nair community in Kerala. Over time, it has become the state’s prominent caste‑based group.
According to the 1968 socio‑economic survey of Kerala, Nairs made up an estimated 14.47 percent of the state’s population.
The Nair community was at the forefront of the 1957 Liberation Struggle in Kerala, a mass political agitation against the first Communist government led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad. The trigger was the Kerala Education Bill, 1957, which intended to regularise private schools, a move opposed by NSS and church bodies, as many of the schools were run by their management. The EMS government was dismissed in 1959.
The NSS, along with church bodies, has remained with the Congress-led UDF since then, until recently, when many members of the Nair community endorsed the BJP. According to the National Election Survey, 11 percent of Nairs in Kerala members voted for the BJP in 2006 and 2011. This number climbed to 33 percent in the 2016 assembly polls.
NSS’s opposition to the Left became apparent when it staged protest marches against the 2018 Sabarimala verdict. The Left-led LDF government, which initially supported the judgment, withdrew support after the protests.
Political analysts, however, say NSS’s support of the Left’s decision on the Global Ayyappa Conclave would not be sufficient for LDF to get Nair votes. “I don’t think voters in Kerala would change just because community leaders say so. But this might actually divide the LDF’s core voters communally as the LDF is changing its earlier stance,” said Neelakandan.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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