Vellapally Natesan misled national BJP leadership: Biju Ramesh

Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP national leadership was misled by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Sangom leader Vellapally Natesan on his support base in the Hindu Ezhava community in the southern state, bar owner Biju Ramesh said on Tuesday.

"The Hindu Ezhavas in Kerala number 1.25 crore, with just a little more than a million holding SNDP membership. Natesan misled the BJP leadership that this movement had the support of the entire Ezhava community," Ramesh, himself a Hindu Ezhava, told reporters here.

"The state unit of BJP/RSS combine is fully supporting Natesan now as they are trying to get a foothold in state politics. Very soon, they will also realise that Natesan does not enjoy the support of the entire Ezhava community," said Ramesh.

"Natesan - who launched a statewide yatra on Monday from Kasargode - is now engaged in all sorts of activities that the community's revered leader and social reformer Sree Narayana Guru opposed tooth and nail," the bar owner said.

Ramesh was the whistle-blower who claimed that the then state finance minister K.M. Mani sought a bribe of Rs.1 crore to get reopened the state's bars closed under the new excise policy. Mani quit the cabinet early this month.

Ramesh now leads an anti-Natesan faction in the Ezhava community.

Ramesh said Natesan got the support of the government in the state and the Centre as he was at the helm of the SNDP.

"In 1999, a senior state BJP leader saved him in the wireless sets case. At that time, he was supplying kerosene illegally to Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) activists. Once again, he is in BJP company. He is using SNDP for personal gains. His stature and wealth grew after he took over SNDP reins in the late '90s," Ramesh added.

Natesan would announce the formation of a new political party of the Hindus in Kerala on December 5, the day his yatra ends.