Vellappally-Binoy Viswam spat takes an ugly turn

The spat between Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan and Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Binoy Viswam intensified on Friday, with Mr. Natesan accusing the CPI of taking money from him. 

He also charged the CPI with taking stances inimical to the interests of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), citing its strident criticism of the government signing up for the PM SHRI scheme, which he alleged had created an impression of lack of unity within the alliance. 

Mr. Natesan’s tirade against Mr. Viswam formed part of a series of exchanges triggered by the CPI’s assessment that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s public bonhomie with Mr. Natesan damaged the Left front’s prospects in the recent local body elections. 

Responding to Mr. Viswam’s remarks that he would not let Mr. Natesan board his official car (as was done by the CM), Mr. Natesan said he did not want to get into Mr. Viswam’s vehicle. “Why should I board his car? [CPI stalwarts] T.V. Thomas and M.N. Govindan Nair had travelled in my car many a time,” he said, adding that he still remembered what the CPI leaders said when they took money from him. 

Mr. Natesan lost his cool when asked why he had recently called a television journalist an “extremist.” 

Rebutting the derisive comments, Mr. Viswam said while the CPI might have collected funds from Mr. Natesan for elections, it had not accepted any illegal money from him. “Nobody has entrusted Vellappally with giving grades to the parties in the LDF or judging who’s right or wrong. Vellappally isn’t the LDF… The Sree Narayana movement has an illustrious history, and those occupying its top post should remember that they are holding a position illuminated by stalwarts like Kumaran Asan,” Mr. Viswam said. 

He added that he was different from Mr. Vijayan as a person and that both held different outlooks, when asked about Mr. Vijayan justifying his car journey with Mr. Natesan by saying he [Mr. Vijayan] wasn’t Binoy Viswam. 

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan on Friday moderated his stance against Mr. Natesan, saying his party wouldn’t consider him a communal bigot for an isolated remark. 

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, however, accused Mr. Vijayan of “using somebody else as his mouthpiece to create a communal divide” in the State, referring to Mr. Natesan’s statement that the IUML was trying to stoke communal tensions. Mr. Vijayan was trying to create communal hatred in the same way as it was done by the Sangh Parivar, he alleged. 

On Friday evening, Youth Congress Kozhikode district vice-president K. Sunand filed a petition with the State Police Chief alleging that Mr. Natesan was attempting to create communal divide in society. In his email complaint, Mr. Sunand accused Mr. Natesan of portraying religious minorities as extremists and sought the registration of a case against him for what he described as “inciting” remarks.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists demanded that Mr. Natesan apologise for his “communally charged remarks” if he had even an iota of belief in the teachings of Sree Narayana Guru. It also asked the leaders close to him and the SNDP Yogam to intervene and correct his “feudal and fascist” behaviour.