Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 08: The decision of Nair Service Society (NSS) not to allow its campus at Changanasseri for an ABVP-sponsored function slated to have been attended by Union Minister of State for Defence O Rajagopal has stirred up a controversy, triggering sharp reactions from both sides.
While Rajagopal alleged that the last-minute cancellation of the 'Kudumba Sangamam' planned for February 3 by the ABVP-led students Union of Hindu College at the NSS
headquarters could be due to NSS leadership's "eagerness to please Marxist friends".
Reacting to Rajagopal's statement, NSS said such statements were 'unbecoming' of a Union minister.
Though state BJP leadership held that NSS' action in denying venue for the function and declaring a holiday for the college on the said day "smacked of political motives", NSS leadership maintained that the programme was not allowed
fearing law and order problems and the minister had been
informed about this in advance by the college principal.
In a statement issued at Kottayam yesterday, NSS general
secretary P K Narayana Panicker said it was unfair on the part
of a Union minister to have made such statements without
checking the facts.
Panicker said though the NSS never interfered in
activities of the college union, it wanted to avoid "possible
chaos" at a function attended by a central minister as there
were chances of outsiders sneaking into the campus on the
pretext of attending the programme.
Bureau Report
