Kerala, Tamilnadu politicos woo Church leaders on poll eve

Kerala, Tamilnadu politicians woo Church leaders on poll eve
Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Thursday, 12 May 2016 AT 09:31 AM IST
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Sakal Times     http://goo.gl/4hZzwd
Camil Parkhe, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Church leaders, Christian communities

Wooing the minority: A file photo of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy (2nd from left) with Cardinal Baselios Cleemis

As Kerala and Tamil Nadu polls approach, leaders of various political parties are wooing the Church leaders to seek votes of the Christian communities in these two southern states.

Leaders of various political parties including the BJP, candidates in the local assembly constituencies have been calling on the members of the Church hierarchy including the archbishops, bishops for the past few weeks to seek the votes of the members of the Catholic and Protestant sects of Christianity. Kerala will elect its 140-member legislative assembly on Monday, May 16. The main fight will be between the ruling United Democratic Front led by the Congress party and the Left Democratic Front led by the CPI(M). The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP is also hoping to open its account in this state.

Officially, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of the Catholic Church in the country, has taken no political stance on the polls in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the two states where the Christian community has a sizable presence. Normally the Church takes the stance that the faithful should exercise their franchise and vote for those who will follow the secular and democratic principles enshrined in the Constitution. The Church leaders have also time and again professed that no political party or candidates were ‘untouchable’ to them.

As the election campaign nears end, top leaders of both the major rival fronts and candidates have visited Cardinal Baselios Cleemis who is incidentally also the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, and heads of various Christian denominations in Kerala. The Christian population in Kerala is nearly 18 per cent and their votes are decisive in over 40 seats of the total 140 assembly seats.

Kerala is the country’s most most literate and also politically hyperactive state. The Congress-led government has introduced prohibition in this state. The Catholic Church was one of the most vocal sectors in advocating prohibition in this state.

Tamil Nadu had witnessed a controversy when Madurai Madurai Archbishop Anthonysamy Pappusamy extended support to the DMK which had promised inclusion of Dalit Christians in the Scheduled Caste (SC) list and re-including those who had converted to Christianity in the list of Most Backward Classes. The support was criticised by many Christian leaders, saying that the Church had no tradition nor mandate to issue such kinds of political diktats.

Significantly, the members of the Christian community are in all major political fronts and parties in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Whatever may the Church’s official stance on its political neutrality, it is a fact that its expressed and unexpressed policy does have an impact on the poll verdict.

That is why despite the campaign launched by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to demand discontinuation of the government grants the English medium schools (or the Catholic Church-managed schools), the BJP government in Goa state has refused to concede the demand.

Naturally the ruling party does not want to take political risk as the Goa state polls are scheduled next year.

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