Vellapally terms IUML communal outfit in secular guise

SNDP general secretary Yogam Vellappally Natesan launched a campaign against the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and indirectly attacked its allies in the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) in an editorial in the social organisation’s mouthpiece, Yoga Nadam, on Wednesday. In a signed editorial, Mr. Natesan repeated his charge made before the assembly elections that the IUML was a “true blue communal party wearing a secular garb”. In what appeared to be an indirect reference to the IUML, Mr. Natesan said “divisive forces were gunning for the SNDP Yogam and the social organization could ill afford to remain silent when “the political parties in power were rocking a common outfit”.

Mr. Natesan suggested that the attack on the SNDP Yogam was an attack on the aspirations of the backward classes, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in the state. He claimed that the appointment of personal staff (IUML ministers) indicated that the party would “behave together when in power”.

Statement by the Minister

He labeled a socio-political conspiracy to “secure and undermine” the Hindu majority community in Kerala, “covertly and openly”. Mr Natesan said Kerala had not “forgotten” Local Government Minister KM Shaji’s alleged statement that “religion was paramount” for the IUML.

Mr Natesan’s latest litany of smoldering grievances against the UDF has taken on political significance against the backdrop of increasingly strident demands by the Congress, notably former speaker VM Sudheeran, to reopen the “meandering probe” against SNDP general secretary Yogamide, including the “micro-finance scam” and the circumstances surrounding the death of its longtime KK Maheshan.

Mr. Natesan tried not to spare the Left Democratic Front (LDF), attributing its defeat to “courting minorities at the expense of the Left Ezhava base”, which he claimed formed the “backbone” of the Left movement in Kerala. Mr Natesan’s latest attack against the IUML came close in the footsteps of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) state committee, concluding that the party’s failure to strongly condemn SNDP general secretary Yogam’s anti-Muslim rhetoric had alienated minorities from the LDF and contributed to the historic poll defeat.

Mr. Natesan’s “inflammatory rhetoric” against the IUML and targeted attacks against the then opposition leader VD Satheesan, often bordering on personal issues, rocked the assembly election campaign. The editorial also claimed that “enemies in the SNDP Yogam community and some TV channel owners” were part of a “conspiratorial cabal attacking the social organization” inspired by social reformer Sree Narayana Guru.

Published – 17 Jun 2026 23:47 IST