The fight for minority votes in Kerala Premium
The Hindu
How the Congress and CPI(M) in Kerala are trying to outdo each other in wooing Muslims and Christians
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress are fighting for Christian and Muslim votes in Kerala. The two communities, which constitute 26.56% and 18.38% of Kerala’s electorate, respectively, could play a critical role in determining the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections in the State.
Christians and Muslims have rarely behaved as a homogenous voting bloc in Kerala. However, the concerns of the leaders of these communities about the continuing dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the country may galvanise these groups to vote in a more focused and uniform pattern compared to the Lok Sabha polls of 2019.
Also read | CPI(M), Congress wooing minority votes, says M.T. Ramesh
The Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, an influential Sunni organisation, and the Latin Catholic Church have expressed their worry about the divisive politics playing out in the country.
Taking a potshot at the Congress, the Samastha published an editorial in Suprabhaatham, the organisation’s mouthpiece, expressing “deep fear” at the “overnight” shift of those who had earlier endorsed the secular and democratic legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, to the Sangh Parivar. The defections of Anil K. Antony, son of former Congress Chief Minister A.K. Antony, and Padmaja Ky. Venugopal, daughter of former Congress Chief Minister K. Karunakaran, to the BJP triggered the opinion piece. The editorial particularly expressed anguish at the fact that they had chosen the BJP over secular parties including the CPI(M).
Also read | Quiet fear of dividing anti-BJP votes plagues UDF and LDF as poll campaigning gets shriller
Soon after, the Latin Catholic Church urged the laity to pray and fast on March 22 as a peaceful form of protest and social action against the rising tide of religious bigotry against minorities. The Church’s message seemed to support the INDIA bloc’s narrative that the Sangh Parivar poses a threat to secularism, democracy, and diversity.
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