On September 17, 2022, over a thousand laity from different church denominations in Kerala met at Ashish Convention Centre in Kalamassery, Kochi, under the banner of a newly-floated grouping, Bharatiya Christian Sangamam (BCS).
Inaugurating the meeting, former Kanjirappally bishop Mar Mathew Arackal said Christians are not sufficiently represented in different domains and more Christians must come to political leadership positions. Former legislators like Johnny Nellore, Mathew Stephen and George J. Mathew, and former national minority commission member V.V. Augustine were some of the politicians present at the meeting.
BCS put forward 12 demands, including greater minority rights for Christians and more government support for farmers. Merely 11 days after the meeting, BJP national president J.P. Nadda held a closed-door meeting with the archbishop of Changanacherry (Syro Malabar Church) and the archbishop of Kottayam (Knanaya Catholic archdiocese, which is also under Syro Malabar Church). Since then, there were speculations that a new party—with the blessings of a section of Catholic leadership and the BJP—will soon be formed, with Christian politicians at the helm of it.
On Wednesday, when Kerala Congress (Joseph) faction leader Johnny Nellore, who had been functioning as the UDF secretary, announced his resignation from his party and coalition, things may have become clearer. Nellore announced that he will not be joining any other party and that he will be part of a new party, National Progressive Party (NPP), which is likely to be announced on April 22.
Last week, when THE WEEK contacted George J. Mathew, a key figure behind the new party, he argued that the newly-formed party will not be a "Christian party" and that it is not being floated by the BJP. On Wednesday, Nellore too said NPP will not be a party for Christians alone and it will not have any special affinity for any particular party. But his announcement that the party will be floated before the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kerala does speak volumes about the direction in which Nellore and his ‘secular’ party will be heading.
Besides, there are reports that the general secretary of a Sangh Parivar-leaning Christian extremist outfit in the state will also join the leadership of the new party.
The saffron party knows it well that considering the peculiar political landscape in Kerala, dominated by the CPI(M) and the Congress—who had always divided the majority Hindu votes among them—and demographic equations in the state, it is going to be a tough ride to come to power in the state. The BJP is aware that the support of Christians, who form around 18 per cent of Kerala’s total population, will be crucial for the party to gain prominence in the state, and hence the party leadership has been going all out to woo Christians in the state.
A major hurdle before the party is overcoming the traditional aversion and suspicions that the Christians in the state have towards the Sangh Parivar. Hence, a new party, with Christians at the helm, should be seen as an effort by the saffron party to bridge this gap as well as collect traditional Christian votes—especially those in the Central Travancore, split across Kerala Congress parties in UDF and LDF—in favour of the BJP and the NDA.
It remains to be seen how much impact someone like Nellore—who neither enjoys major clout nor could present a very strong case for his defection—can create to turn the tide towards the NDA.
In June, an audio clip surfaced, which allegedly had Nellore’s voice, requesting Kerala Congress (M) leader A.H. Hafees to help him to join the LDF. In the audio, a man could be heard asking for the chairmanship of a corporation and a state car for switching over from UDF to LDF. The man also talked about the kind of offers he had received from the BJP. However, Nellore later denied that the man in the audio was him.
Political observers say just with some old horses, a new party like NPP will be able to move forward and reap some gains. There is also the possibility of it never becoming a major player if those behind it fail to bring on board some heavyweights from the existing Kerala Congress parties.
Kerala Congress (J) chairman P.J. Joseph reacted to Nellore’s resignation saying he quit the party with some ulterior motives. Opposition leader V.D. Satheeshan tried to underplay Nellore's resignation saying he is not an important leader, even as LDF convenor E.P. Jayarajn said more leaders would leave the UDF. However, both UDF and LDF are closely watching the BJP’s aggressive tactics in the state.
The most numerous among the Christian denominations in Kerala are Syro-Malabar Catholics, and, the BJP’s Easter Day outreach efforts were largely concentrated on this denomination. Last month, the archbishop of Thalassery archdiocese of Syro Malabar, Mar Joseph Pamplany, had said if the Centre increases the rubber procurement price to ₹ 300 per kg, the BJP may open its account in Kerala.
As his comment triggered a furore in Kerala’s public sphere, his fellow prelate, Bishop Remigiose Inchananiyil of Thamarassery came in support of him, saying he will back any party addressing the issues faced by farmers.
Not surprisingly, while announcing his resignation, Nellore also stressed raising the rubber procurement price to Rs300. “The issues faced by farmers, especially rubber farmers, in Kerala are critical. A lot of people in central Travancore are in deep crisis. I have demanded long back that the price of rubber needs to be raised,” he said.
The Catholic church leadership—which traditionally backed the Congress and the Kerala Congress parties—is currently disillusioned with the way things are progressing with the Congress party and the United Democratic Front. This became apparent in a recent interview given by Cardinal George Alencherry, the head of the Syro Malabar Church, to the New Indian Express. When asked about the reasons why more and more Christians are levitating away from Congress, he said, “It happened because of their own doings… Because of their wrong policies. People started thinking why not vote for someone else?”
Catholic church in Kerala has traditionally kept an anti-Communist stance, too (though in recent years the church has kept a more friendly relationship with the CPI(M) leadership). Along with that, there are growing Christian and Muslim frictions in the state—on issues ranging from marital conversions, land accumulation, and business competition to the distribution of minority scholarships in the state. There is also a growing perception among Christians that Muslim sections hold more power in the UDF and the ruling LDF, and the CPI(M) is playing appeasement politics to woo Muslim organisations and the Indian Union Muslim League.
All these are ground realities favouring the BJP’s moves to woo Christians, and the formation of NPP should be seen as a small pawn in the larger and long-term game played by the BJP to capture the state.
