Yogam ready to conduct election if it gets permission from government: Vellappally

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Nateshan on Thursday said that the Yogam is ready to conduct elections as soon as it gets permission from the state government to conduct the elections as per the present representative voting system. He was speaking at the Meet the Press programme held at Kesari Memorial Hall.

"We have applied for the permission of the state government as per the High Court's direction. The representative voting system was implemented for the first time during the time of former Yogam general secretary KK Viswanathan. Back then, one vote was allowed for every hundred voters. Later, when the number of members increased, it was revised to one vote for every 200 members. At present, the Yogam has 34 lakh members. If the system of one vote per member is implemented, the process of sending registered notices to each voter will cost crores of rupees. That is why we are saying that the representative system should continue, "Vellappally said.

Who benefitted from the Sabarimala protest

"Who benefited from the Sabarimala protests? Those who took part in the strike were booked by the police. The SNDP Yogam did not agree with the protest right from the beginning. Those who launched the strike were dreaming of becoming ministers. Yet, the LDF came back to power with 99 seats. Everyone had supported the entry of women to Sabarimala. Later, some people launched a strike believing that they would get more votes in the election. The strike was caused by three lords. NSS and brahmin organizations were present in the first meeting of the Renaissance​​Protection Committee. After a while, they left. No matter who leaves, I will not leave it. SNDP has nothing to do with NSS anymore," Vellappally added.