Alappuzha: On National Highway 47, some 35km from Kochi, all roads lead to the residence of Kerala's prominent backward class, Ezhava leader Vellapally Natesan. Once saddled with an umpteen number of police cases, this former liquor baron has say on the prospects of many a candidate in Kerala's Assembly elections.
Candidates in the 140 Assembly seats in Kerala are making a beeline to his palatial residence that resembles a fortress. People wait in queue to have a darshan of the leader who can make or mar the prospects of many a candidate in the elections.
In an exclusive interview to The Peninsula, Natesan said he would work to ensure the defeat of the Congress in Kerala which had doled out education institutions to the forward caste Nairs and Christians.
"All candidates who had stood against the interest of the backward Ezhava community, comprising 23 percent of the population, would bite the dust this time. What has my community gained under the UDF regime? Most education institutions sanctioned by the Government have gone to the elite Christian-Nair upper caste honchos. There's little in common between my community and the Congress", said Natesan at his residence at Kanichukulangara, a favourite haunt of the politicians.
Natesan is the general secretary of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), the umbrella organisation of the Ezhava community. Ezhavas have been the mainstay of the Left in Kerala but in recent elections their support had swung between the Left and the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
However, there's no doubt this time around.
"I've instructed all 52,000 self-help groups propped up by the SNDP to vote for the Left. We'll make the critical difference this time", said Natesan, even as he discussed the prospects of the local BJP candidate.
His heart goes out to former Central Minister O Rajagopal, locked in a triangular contest in the northern Palakkad district.
"I personally want Rajagopal to win because he's a kindly person, though lacking in initiatives", Natesan made clear his sympathies.
However, the question that haunts even the Ezhava supporters is whether there would be a backlash from the forward castes. The backward class consolidation in favour of Opposition leader V S Achuthanadan is likely to trigger a backlash from the forward castes.
This is the quintessential question in the elections in Kerala. Who's going to be the Chief Minister, an Ezhava or one from the forward castes?
Natesan, a sworn disciple of Kerala's renaissance leader Sree Narayana Guru, says the Muslim community is upsetting the fragile economic balance in Kerala by buying up landed assets.
He's not happy with Muslims and Christians who earn their riches in Gulf countries posing a threat to the backward Ezhavas. "This land will go to the dogs. I'll stem this trend", said Natesan, exposing his communal priorities.
