There’s a Kerala Story in Kerala’s 2024 Lok Sabha election story. And it’s taking part in out proper earlier than the Kerala votes on April 26.
A variety of church buildings in Kerala are screening ‘The Kerala Story’, a controversial movie from 2023, that confirmed how girls from Kerala had been transformed and made to affix the Islamic terror outfit IS.
The screening of ‘The Kerala Story’ by some dioceses is seen as an try to consolidate Christian votes within the state proper earlier than folks vote within the Lok Sabha polls.
Whereas Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has slammed the screenings, the BJP says it has no function in them.
All eyes are on the Christian neighborhood, which kinds 18% of Kerala’s inhabitants and has the flexibility to swing a number of constituencies. In truth, Kerala has the best inhabitants of Christians in India, which suggests round 22% of Indian Christians are from Kerala.
Historically, Congress voters, Christians have been tapped into by the BJP, which is desperately attempting to make inroads in Kerala. The BJP faces a demographic dilemma in Kerala, the place minorities kind 46% of the inhabitants. Getting a piece of Christian votes would undoubtedly enhance its electoral possibilities.
The BJP was heading in the right direction to draw Christian voters, however the violence in Manipur, a state 3,700 km away, is alleged to have queered the pitch.
Will the Manipur issue harm the BJP and, what has ‘The Kerala Story’ to do with the Lok Sabha election?
‘THE KERALA STORY’ SCREENING AND THE CONTROVERSY
The Idukki Diocese in Kerala is scheduled to display ‘The Kerala Story’ within the coming weekend, after it did the identical final week.
Final week, the movie was screened on the church run by the Idukki Diocese as a part of a religion competition for Catechism college students of Lessons 10, 11 and 12.
The church additionally issued a booklet on “love”, highlighting the threats of ‘love jihad’.
A Kerala based mostly youth physique, The Kerala Catholic Youth Motion (KCYM), underneath the Diocese of Thamarassery can be planning to display ‘The Kerala Story’ in a number of locations in Kerala.
Two extra dioceses in Kerala have determined to display the movie, which stirred controversy with the discharge of its trailer itself, in 2023.
The KCYM stated the screenings had been meant to precise solidarity with the Diocese of Idukki.
The event surrounding ‘The Kerala Story’ got here simply days after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticised state broadcaster Doordarshan’s resolution to telecast ‘The Kerala Story” in the state.
He said that Doordarshan should not be allowed to become a “propaganda machine” of the BJP and RSS.
On Tuesday (April 9), Vijayan strongly condemned the telecast of ‘The Kerala Story’ in dioceses, alleging that “it aligned with the BJP and RSS agenda”.
Reacting to the row, Kerala state BJP chief K Surendran said that the people of Kerala “wholeheartedly welcomed the movie”.
The screening of the film by the dioceses is seen by some as an attempt to consolidate votes for the BJP, while the BJP says it has no role in it. The BJP says it is only using the developmental plank in Kerala.
“The BJP is not concerned within the screening of the Kerala Story. The social gathering has accomplished nothing to polarise voters,” a senior BJP leader from Kerala says on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
“Folks know whose daughters have gone, folks know the truth. The BJP hasn’t accomplished any propaganda. We’re banking on Modi’s improvement and Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,” he adds.
KERALA CHRISTIANS AND BJP
The BJP was working on a well-laid-out plan in Kerala.
In January, Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) chief P C George merged his party with the BJP, thereby boosting the saffron party’s Christian outreach. Earlier in April last year, Anil K Antony, son of veteran Christian Congress leader AK Antony, joined the BJP.
What needs to be understood is that the Christians aren’t a homogenous block in Kerala.
The Catholic and Syrian Christians have shown recent inclinations towards the BJP, while the Protestants and the Latin Christians have even stayed away from the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
A few Christian communities, through the churches and priests, have helped the BJP make some inroads in a state which otherwise is dominated by the LDF and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
“In sure pockets, there’s stress between the Muslim and the Christian communities. These flare-ups principally happen when inter-community relationships come to mild,” Kerala-based political observer Joseph C Mathew tells IndiaToday.In.
“There’s a feeling of Muslim hatred that’s being unfold within the Christian neighborhood in Kerala. It is not fully due to the BJP, however the social gathering has tried to capitalise on these anti-Muslim sentiments,” says Mathew. “The BJP is a brand new vote financial institution in Kerala and utilizing these anti-Muslim sentiments.”
However, the BJP rejects these claims.
A senior BJP leader from Kerala, IndiaToday.In spoke to, says the Christians were “naturally” attracted to the BJP and the party will get a big chunk of the votes from the community in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
“The BJP does not must woo Christians in Kerala, they’re naturally drawn in the direction of it. The Kerala BJP has quite a lot of Christian leaders. Anil Antony joined the BJP with out being prompted, after seeing the BJP’s developmental agenda,” says the Kerala BJP leader.
ARE CHRISTIANS NATURALLY ATTRACTED TO BJP?
The Kerala BJP leader pointed out three main reasons for the “pure attraction of the Christians in the direction of the BJP”.
“The primary attraction is the BJP’s improvement agenda. Then there’s a sense of insecurity locally over the Muslim League and the Congress’s connections. Even the Left is attempting to woo the Muslims. The Christians are feeling that they’re being undermined by the UDF and the LDF,” said the BJP leader, on condition of anonymity.
The third factor, says the BJP leader, is the “affect of worldwide jihad that Keralites are witnessing when their daughters are taken to Syria”.
He says the BJP has a number of Christian leaders in Kerala gram panchayats and the party is attracting a lot of members from the community.
“The Christians in Kerala noticed the BJP’s so-called developmental agenda and obtained inclined to it,” Kerala-based political observer Joseph C Mathew tells IndiaToday.In.
He says that Christians of Kerala are flexible and therefore have no issue in opting for the BJP. He points to how the community kept away from the Communists earlier but later started voting for the LDF.
“Christians had been initially in opposition to the Communists as a result of they had been non-believers. Later, they began aligning with the Left, saying the ‘new Left’ shouldn’t be dogmatic, however pragmatic,” he adds. The community was showing the same flexibility towards the BJP.
Things seemed to have been working for the BJP, but the ethnic strife in Manipur, which started in May last year, might have added to the party’s difficulties.
ETHNIC VIOLENCE IN MANIPUR AND ECHOES IN KERALA
Experts say the Meitei-Kuki ethnic violence in Manipur might be one of the factors that might lead to the Christians dithering in backing the BJP in the polls.
What brought the issue home were several pastors from Kerala who were working in Manipur.
The violence in Manipur, perceived by Christians as anti-Christian in nature, has served as a tipping point in their relationship with the BJP, say experts.
“The Kerala Christians had been able to accommodate the BJP, however then Manipur got here as a jolt,” says Joseph C Mathew. “The passive response of BJP leaders hasn’t helped both.”
To consolidate the Christian vote, the church in Kerala, brought up ‘The Kerala Story’ and the narrative of love jihad to the forefront, according to the political observer.
“The BJP is attempting to create a story of affection jihad. The BJP is a brand new vote financial institution in Kerala and utilizing anti-Muslim sentiments,” says Mathew.
‘MANIPUR VIOLENCE NOT THE ONLY FACTOR FOR CHRISTIANS’
However, the violence in Manipur isn’t the only factor that is alienating Christians from the BJP, according to Joseph C Mathew.
“Manipur was the tipping level. The Hindu ceremonies by the federal government, the Ramjanmabhoomi subject, have all negated the preliminary thought technique of the Christians accommodating the BJP,” he says.
Which party will the Christian voters prefer?
“I see Christian votes predominantly going to the Congress-led UDF,” says Mathew.
The senior BJP leader from Kerala, however, says the Manipur issue is not going to have any impact on the polls.
“The Manipur subject is being manipulated by the UDF and the LDF. It is not going to have a lot affect on the polls,” says the Kerala BJP leader.
This is the Manipur twist to The Kerala Story, where Christian votes can make or mar the chances of political parties. Will the BJP have made inroads into the community? The results on June 4 will make it clear.
