SNDP, NSS newfound friendship leaves opposing alliances in Kerala scrambling to recalibrate

The Nair Service Society (NSS) and the Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham (SNDP) on Sunday (January 18, 2026) signalled a thaw in their frosty relationship on the contentious issue of caste-based reservation, and hinted at an alignment ahead of the Assembly election in Kerala. 

The Hindu social organisations representing the interests of the electorally significant Nair and Ezhava communities broadcast that they had relegated their long-standing differences on reservation to the back burner to meet present-day “social exigencies”. Most Nair groups are in the general category for reservation purposes, while Ezhavas are part of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

However, neither organisation specified the urgency that prompted their “sudden” need for a compact in a crucial election year, or the nature of their prospective accord. The NSS and SNDP merely stated that their respective leadership would pursue “shared goals without compromising their independent political positions”. 

‘Reservation differences redundant’

Notably, the NSS general secretary, Sukumaran Nair, differed from the SNDP Yogam’s position that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had driven a wedge between the organisations by using the LDF government’s 2014 proposal to extend 10% reservation to economically weaker sections as a foil. “IUML and SNDP were on the same page concerning reservation then,” he said. 

SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan signalled that the NSS-SNDP differences over reservation are now water under the bridge. He said that the LDF’s introduction of EWS in 2020 — clubbed with the creamy layer criteria that excludes the wealthy among socially backward communities from affirmative action benefits — had rendered the reservation issue redundant. 

Notably, both leaders singled out the Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, for criticism and predicted that the UDF’s current political trajectory could potentially diminish the alliance’s chances of winning the Assembly polls. Mr. Satheesan insisted that he had spoken against communally divisive rhetoric and had not targeted the NSS or SNDP. 

Alliance calculus

Meanwhile, Mr. Natesan’s pivot towards the NSS leadership has left opposing alliances in Kerala scrambling to read the political tea leaves.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby said the party would calibrate its position only after understanding how the alignment would evolve and whom it would ultimately benefit. Kerala Culture Minister Saji Cherian denied insinuations that the NSS-SNDP alliance was part of the CPI(M)’s attempt to consolidate Hindu votes through social engineering. 

Sunny Joseph, the president of the Congress’s Kerala unit, demurred from commenting on the emerging NSS-SNDP axis. 

Despite the NSS’s strident criticism of the Centre’s failure to ensure Sabarimala’s development and to pass a law to protect the Ayyappa temple’s traditions from future litigations over the entry of women, the BJP Kerala’s president Rajiv Chandrasekhar welcomed the newfound NSS-SNDP comity. Notably, SNDP Yogam’s political arm, the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, is an NDA ally in Kerala. Mr. Chandrasekhar said the mustering of Hindu social organisations in Kerala was a strong riposte to the UDF’s bid to legitimise “Islamist organisations and inject them into mainstream politics”.