Church and a state

Yet,various religious groups have marred the air with protest meetings and emotional outbursts,claiming under-representation in the election sweepstakes.

Muslim leaders,for example,have been accusing the Congress of neglecting the community. Says prominent leader Dr Fazal Gafoor: The Congress has not given adequate representation to the community,although the LDF has addressed the matter.

What perhaps limits the Muslim representation in the Congress is the fact that ally IUML Indian Union Muslim League has fielded members of the community in 21 of the 22 seats allotted to it.

But mindful of the communitys anger,Muslim leaders in the Congress have had a closed-door meeting. To placate the community,the party has also nominated Thalakkunnel Basheer as the ad-hoc president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee after the decision of the incumbent Ramesh Chennithala to contest.

The Church is another prominent lobbyist. At least three Catholic dioceses and the non-Catholic Malankara Orthodox Church have openly stated that they have submitted a list of candidates to the Congress leadership.

The Alappuzha Latin Catholic diocese pushed for Church loyalist P J Mathew,who has to take on CPM central committee member Thomas Issac,also a Latin Catholic.

The Thrissur archdiocese had rushed a list of four to the Congress high command,of which one has been accommodated. In Ollur constituency,the Congress has had to succumb to the Church demand to field M P Vincent.

The Thamarassery diocese in North Kerala had openly lobbied for a seat from the Congress for the Catholic-dominated Thiruvambady.

Malankara Orthodox Church head Mar Beselious Mar Thoma Paulose admits the Church had sought seats from the LDF and UDF. We had given seven candidates along with the constituencies for them. But the Congress has hurt our sentiments, says the Bishop.

Most of the candidates fielded by the Kerala Congress Mani are Catholics,leaving other party leaders grumbling. Several non-Catholic leaders have protested against the bid to make the party a Catholic bloc.

On the other side,Hindu organisations are protesting the growing influence of minority groups in the Congress. The Congress has to explain why it does not have a Hindu leader within the party,a la Muslims and Christians. No self-respecting Hindu will get his due share in the Congress, says Kerala Hindu Coordination Committee Secretary R S Babu.

The Latin Catholic Church is planning to conduct closed-door debates of candidates in 14 constituencies where the community has demographical influence. Candidates of the CPM and Congress would be asked to explain their stands on issues faced by Latin Catholics. Based on their stand,we will declare the list of candidates whom the laity should vote for, says Shaji George,general secretary,Latin Catholic Kerala Region.

The LDF has fielded seven Latin Catholics in all,and and UDF four.

CPM candidate Thomas Issac defends his decision to participate in the debate. I would present my partys stand. Hence,there is no issue of wooing a community.