Published Nov 13, 2026 | 1:00 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 13, 2026 | 1:00 PM
Sukumaran Nair has invited Satheesan to the NSS headquarters at Perunna for the Mannam Jayanthi celebrations.
A prolonged cold war between Chief Minister VD Satheesan and Nair Service Society (NSS) General Secretary G Sukumaran Nair appears to be over, with the two leaders resolving their differences through discussions and agreeing to put the past behind them.
Sukumaran Nair has invited Satheesan to the NSS headquarters at Perunna for the Mannam Jayanthi celebrations on January 1 and 2, 2027.
The Chief Minister has accepted the invitation and is scheduled to inaugurate the main commemorative gathering on January 2, marking the 150th birth anniversary of NSS founder Mannath Padmanabhan. An all-Kerala Nair representative conference will be held on January 1.
Confirming the reconciliation, Sukumaran Nair said he had spoken to the Chief Minister over the phone and had also sent him a formal invitation. Satheesan responded positively and confirmed that he would attend.
“I invited the Chief Minister over the phone and also sent him a letter. He said he would come. He explained that his earlier remarks were made in particular contexts. I have put the matter behind me,” Sukumaran Nair said.
The visit will be significant as it will be Satheesan’s first appearance at the NSS headquarters in five years, against the backdrop of a public disagreement that had surfaced repeatedly.
The differences date back to 2021, when Satheesan, after becoming Leader of the Opposition, remarked that political leaders should not wait at the doorsteps of community leaders or blindly follow their directions. The comments reportedly offended Sukumaran Nair and set the tone for an uneasy relationship between the two.
Their differences resurfaced ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, with Sukumaran Nair criticising Satheesan’s position that community organisations should stay away from the internal affairs of political parties. He had warned that such an approach could hurt the Congress electorally.
He had also openly opposed the possibility of Satheesan being projected as the Chief Minister in the event of a UDF victory.
The tension intensified last June when Sukumaran Nair alleged that he had sought appointments with Satheesan twice but had not received a meeting. He described the Congress leader as arrogant.
Satheesan rejected the allegation, clarifying that he had never turned down a meeting request. He said he had missed a phone call because of the pressure of budget-related work but had returned the call later and spoken cordially with Sukumaran Nair. The latest interaction appears to have brought an end to the prolonged estrangement.
Minister K Muraleedharan is also expected to attend the celebrations.
Beyond the personal thaw, the rapprochement carries political significance for the Congress, given the NSS’s influence in Keralam’s social and political landscape and the repeated exchanges between its leadership and the state Congress leadership.
Satheesan’s visit to Perunna will therefore be watched closely as a possible new beginning in the relationship between the two.
(With inputs from Dileep V Kumar. Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
