The majority communities of Kerala on Saturday launched their own party, Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), whose objective is to ensure “equal justice” to all sections through active participation in politics.
The party was declared by Vellappally Natesan, general secretary of SNDP Yogam, outfit of Hindu lower caste Ezhavas who constitute 21 per cent of the State’s population, at a mega rally held as part of the conclusion of the all-Kerala march, Samathwa Munnetta Yatra (Equality Movement March), led by him at the Shankhummukham Beach in Thiruvananthapuram.
Thousands of SNDP Yogam workers and members of different majority communities who had assembled at Shankhummukham braving rains and strong winds cheered Vellappally as he announced, “From now on we will decide on who should rule Kerala. Till now we have been voting to bring others to power. Now we will start voting for ourselves.”
Vellappally also unfurled the deep red-white flag of the new party. Its symbol will be folded hands, Kooppukai, which he said represented love and respect. “Our goal is not establishment of a Hindu nation. Our objective is to ensure equal justice to all. Our aim is to end the discrimination the majorities have been experiencing all these years,” he said.
The Yogam general secretary who inaugurated the public meeting held as part of the culmination of his all-Kerala march which had started on November 23 at Kasaragod, dedicated most of his speech to highlight the discrimination the Hindu communities, especially the backward sections, had been facing under the governments of the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M)-headed lDF.
“What is happening here is a rule of adjustments. For five years, the UDF would rule in the State and the left would be in power for the next five years. And what do they doIJ They just loot the Treasury. They devote the time of the Assembly to discuss flesh trade and corruption scandals only and then they disperse after claiming their allowances,” he alleged.
“Why are 52 per cent of Hindus in Kerala still in the BPl categoryIJ Who are reaping the benefits of the Government’s land allotment schemesIJ Who all are getting relief assistances for tragedies like accidentsIJ These are pertinent questions we are raising. But that does not make us communalists. All we demand is equal justice and no discrimination,” Vellappally said.
“The slogan of secularism is hypocritical. Why are those in the UDF and left disturbed when we are forming a partyIJ We have not seen this annoyance while the Muslims and Christians are sharing power through their political partiesIJ” Vellappally asked adding, “However, our aim is not to destroy Muslims or scare away Christians.”
Enumerating the areas of social and economic sectors in which the majority communities were allegedly facing discrimination – public education, higher education, relief assistance, housing, loan disbursement, land allotment, etc – the Yogam general secretary said that they should be given what they deserved on the basis of an elaborate study by a committee.
On Saturday morning, Vellappally told newsmen that the birth of the new party would lead to the formation of a third front in Kerala. He said there would be no talks with the UDF or the lDF but anybody who shared the Yogam’s perspective would be invited into the party, adding that he could not reveal at this stage whether he would be in its leadership.
The plan to launch a party of the majority communities had concretized just ahead of last month’s civic election for which the SNDP Yogam had entered into an informal alliance with the BJP. Both the Yogam and the BJP have claimed that the alliance had worked well and the indication of this was seen in the increase in the local bodies seats the BJP won.
The general feeling among observers is that the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena is most likely to cooperate with the BJP in the coming Assembly election but Vellappally’s critics say that he could be weighing the options. Vellappally’s son Thushar Vellappally, also vice-president of the SNDP Yogam, claimed that the new party would one day come to power in the State.