The general secretaries of the NSS and the SNDP Yogam have launched sharp verbal attacks on Opposition Leader V D Satheesan, triggering a heated political debate in the state just months ahead of the Assembly elections.

NSS General Secretary G Sukumaran Nair on Sunday criticised Satheesan and warned that his remarks could harm the Congress if the party leadership failed to rein him in. "In the last election, this same leader came to the NSS headquarters in Perunna seeking support. Later, he said that no party leader should ever approach community leaders seeking backing," Sukumaran Nair told the media.

He also referred to Satheesan's recent visit to the Catholic Church headquarters in Kakkanad during the Synod. "This is the same leader who made a discreet visit to the Bishop while the Synod was going on," he said. Sukumaran Nair added that Satheesan was making statements while the Congress President looked like "a scarecrow".

SNDP Yogam General Secretary Vellappally Natesan was equally critical of Satheesan. Calling him "a flower that bloomed only yesterday", Vellappally objected to Satheesan's criticism of an incident in which he travelled in the same car as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

"People are now interpreting that it was a big mistake for the Chief Minister to take even me in his vehicle when I, a man of ninety, was walking along. That itself shows what kind of mind Satheesan has. When a backwards-class man like me was taken in the car by a backwards-class Chief Minister, Satheesan did not like it," Vellappally said.

He added that Satheesan's attitude suggested that "a backwards-class person should not get into such a vehicle", and claimed he had often seen such thinking from the Opposition leader.

Vellappally also accused Satheesan of trying to appease the Muslim League. "When you are the Leader of the Opposition and want to become Chief Minister, you need support from a coalition partner. And when you say coalition partner, that means the Muslim League. If the UDF comes to power, it will be the League that rules. It has always been like that in the past too," he said.