SAFFRON'S CROSS CONNECTION

THE BJP REALISES THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IS CRUCIAL FOR THE PARTY TO MAKE A BREAKTHROUGH IN KERALA. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS ALSO AWARE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT

- Jeemon Jacob

The 'sneha yatra (journey of love)', an outreach programme the Kerala BJP started in 2023 during festivals, has found many takers among the state's Christians. The season's greetings messages and party leaders swinging by bishops' houses impressed many of the politically neutral' faithful, giving the BJP its first Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, superstar Suresh Gopi, elected from Thrissur where the church holds much clout.

The 2024 sneha yatra highlights included Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India's (CBCI) Christmas celebration held at its Delhi headquarters on December 23. He was the first PM to do so. CBCI president and Thrissur archbishop Andrews Thazhath praised Modi, saying his "vision for a united and progressive India echoes the Gospel values of inclusion and service to all". However, he also took care to mention the "concerns of those targeted by anti-social fringe elements".

Those 'concerns' were mostly about the unending violence in Manipur where the largely Christian Kuki community is one of the affected parties. But it also hit home in Kerala, where just days before the CBCI event, members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had barged into a government upper primary school in archbishop Thazhath's neighbouring district Palakkad and disrupted a Christmas celebration for the young wards. State BJP leaders were quick to distance themselves from the incidents-a Christmas nativity crib was also found vandalised in another school in the same district-even as a few Church elders took to social media to deride the party's "tokenism".

SAFFRON STRATEGY