BJP, Congress commemorate death anniversary of lone AICC president from Kerala

Both the BJP and Congress organized separate commemoration events on Thursday on the 91st death anniversary of Chettur Sankaran Nair, the lone Malayali president of the Indian National Congress.

The two parties conducted separate events at different times. BJP workers led by party National Executive Committee member PK Krishnadas paid floral tributes at Sankaran Nair’s Smrithi Mandapam located near his ancestral home in Mankara in Palakkad at 7.30 am followed by a public function at the Vella Road Junction in Mankara

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The district leadership of Congress in Palakkad commemorated Sankaran Nair’s death anniversary on Thursday. Congress workers paid floral tributes at Sankaran Nair’s Smrithi Mandapam at Mankara at 8.30 am followed by a public function at Mankara at 9.30am, which was addressed by V K Sreekandan, MP and other leaders.

BJP leaders said this renewed attention is part of the party’s effort to highlight historical nationalists who resonate with the values of cultural and civilisational pride.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, at public meeting at Yamuna Nagar in Haryana, recalled the nationalist and jurist Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, who fought a legendary courtroom battle against a senior official of the Raj who had sued Sankaran Nair for holding him responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. This has sparked a fresh interest in the long-overlooked leader, prompting BJP leaders to visit the Smrithi Mandapam and Sankaran Nair’s relatives. Union Minister Suresh Gopi also visited his descendants.

The Congress organized various commemorative events on Thursday in connection with the death anniversary of Chettur Sankaran Nair. KPCC president and Kannur MP K Sudhakaran inaugurated the memorial event at the Kannur DCC office at 10am on Thursday.

At the KPCC headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, floral tributes were offered at 10.30 am, followed by a memorial meeting. Senior leader K Muraleedharan inaugurated the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, K Muralidharan made a sarcastic remark that the BJP is adopting leaders from the Congress because it does not have freedom fighters.

“Chettur Sankaran Nair is not a communalist, but there were some actions from his side that the Congress could not agree with. Negative things should also be mentioned. I suspect that he compromised with Britain after vacating the post of Congress president,” he said.

Sankaran Nair completely rejected Gandhiji’s policies and wrote a book called ‘Gandhiji and Anarchy’. The reason why the AICC and KPCC did not commemorate Chettur is his disagreement with Gandhian values., Muralidharan said, “But, BJP cannot claim his legacy, because he is not a communalist. We should continue to disagree with him and commemorate him in the coming years,” said Muralidgharan.