VHP workers' Palakkad act deals a blow to BJP's Christian outreach bid

While state BJP had started its programme ahead of Xmas, fear has set in among Christians

- K S SREEJITH @T'Puram

COMING as it did amidst Christian outreach programmes, the arrest of three Sangh parivar workers for having attempted to disrupt the Christmas celebration at a school in Palakkad has come as a setback for the BJP in Kerala.

Compounding matters for the party, the incident was reported at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was attending the Christmas celebration hosted by the Catholic in New Delhi on Monday.

According to a top source in the BJP, the party's central leadership had asked Union Minister George Kurian and state BJP president K Surendran to openly condemn the act of the three Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers.

"The Christian outreach programme was organised not as the state BJP's programme. It was decided after detailed deliberations between RSS and BJP at the national level in 2021," a top Sangh parivar leader told TNIE.