''Kiss of Judas'' .... ??? Christians and BJP would be interesting features of Kerala polity in 2025 and 2026

In December 2023, India was moving fast towards 2024 parliamentary elections. The Lotus party and NDA were eyeing enhanced mandate.

BJP Kerala unit chief K Surendran visited Cardinal George Alencherry, the former head of the prominent Syro Malabar Church, at St Thomas Mount in nearby Kakkanad in the morning and conveyed Christmas greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He also visited Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparbil of the Latin Archdiocese of Verapoly, and conveyed the wishes of the Prime Minister.

Such attempts for political outreach were not new.  

In 2021 in the run to the Kerala state assembly polls, a master of symbolism and a powerful communicator, Narendra Modi had made a Biblical reference in his election rally speech in the southern state -- where Christian votes are decisive in certain seats.

"Judas had betrayed Lord Christ for a few pieces of silver ... just like that Left Democratic Front government has betrayed Kerala for a few pieces of gold," Modi had said. 

The reference did kickoff a minor debate on why the PM, who does not mind displaying his blatant support for Hindutva politics, made a Biblical reference. 

Kerala will be going for assembly elections in less than 16 months in 2026.

The BJP realises the Christian community is crucial to make a breakthrough in Kerala. For their part, the Catholics are also aware of the 'advantages' of such an arrangement.  

In 2024 parliamentary polls, the BJP got its first Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, superstar Suresh Gopi.

He was elected from Thrissur where the Catholic church holds much clout.

Many have thanked BJP's 'sneha yatra (journey of love)', an outreach programme the Kerala BJP, for the win.

Overall, BJP's vote share had jumped to 19.24 per cent. It's some success for a party which has never done well in a state and where the vote share of  the LDF and Congess-led UDF dropped marginally. 

Of course, the saffron party is eyeing Christian voters in addition to their traditional stronghold Hindu support base.

 

Strategy wise, the Lotus party has in 2021 and also now (eyeing 2026 polls) raised issues concerning Muslim community to make deeper penetration among Christians and Hindus. 

In 2021 Sadananda Gowda had made smart use of a raging debate and has said if voted to power in the southern state, his party-led government would bring in a law against 'love jihad (forceful conversion of girls specially using marriage as a tool)' in line with the new law in Uttar Pradesh.

The issue of 'love jihad' suits BJP even to woo Kerala Christians as this religious minority group is also at the 'receiving end' of Islamic fundamentalism and the 'love trap'. 

Christians in Kerala are also irked and feel aggrieved against Muslims for they have opposed the 10 percent reservation announced by the Left regime for the poor among upper/forward castes.

Observers of Kerala politics say - unlike other states, the Muslim community in Kerala has no major grievances.

The Muslims have their 'due share' in trade and business and in many critical hubs, the members of this community are among the prosperous lot in Kerala.

In fact, Muslims form about 43 percent of the population of North Kerala.

Thanks to assertive politics of Indian Union of Muslim League (IUML), the community has generally held key positions politically and also in the ministry. Reports also say that the maximum number of English-medium schools was also opened in last decade or in Muslim-stronghold Malappuram district.

However, a key BJP leader says that the ruling CPI-M and also the Congress have directly and indirectly aided the growth of some radical Islamic fundamentalist groups. 

There has been no serious investigation and criminal proceedings against such offences by successive LDF and UDF regimes over the years. All these issues will be in public discourse once again. 

ends