In Kerala, BJP rings in Christmas with personal visits to Christian families

The aim is to take Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Christmas message to all Christian homes in the state and “clear misgivings about the BJP”, as the party steps up its outreach towards the community ahead of Lok Sabha elections next year. The initiative started on December 22 and will go on till December 31.

Making their way through Eruvessi, around 50 km from the district headquarters, Kumar and Thomas reached the house of small-scale rubber farmer Joseph, also known as Pappachan. While Pappachan told them that he had been a Congress sympathiser in the past, similar to most others in the area that has been a Congress bastion, he said he appreciated the PM over the decision to ban the Popular Front of India (PFI). “That was a major relief,” he said.

Thomas took the opportunity to press strongly for the BJP. “Modi has been ruling the country for nine years. Have you faced any problem? Others said Christians would be exiled, but India is now safe for all,” he told Pappachan.

Pappachan, however, brought up the issue of the violence in Manipur, and even though the BJP leaders tried to tell him that there was a history of sectarian violence in Manipur, he maintained that the PM should have intervened in the situation sooner.

Eventually, the conversation turned to rubber. “If rubber prices are up, we will certainly support (the BJP). We don’t want Rs 250-300 per kg for rubber, we will be happy if the market price is Rs 200 per kg,” Pappachan said. Rubber prices in recent days have hovered in the region of Rs 140-150 per kg. A decade ago, it had been around Rs 250.

Thomas blamed the previous UPA government at the Centre for the crisis in the rubber sector. “It was the Congress that destroyed rubber farmers,” he said, before handing over Modi’s Christmas greeting card to Pappachan and moving on to the next house.

Eruvessi panchayat comes under Irikkur Assembly segment, where only the Congress has ever won an election. The BJP has not been a significant player in the constituency, which has a sizable number of Christians, particularly farmers belonging to the Catholic Church. Out of the 93 booths in the constituency, the BJP has a full-fledged team only in 25 booths, and some presence in 75 booths.

However, now, the party is looking to cash in on the growing chasm between the Congress and Christian population.

Although the violence in Manipur, which has a significant Christian population, had hindered the BJP’s efforts of getting closer to the community in Kerala, the party has found that there are other issues where they could find common ground.

The recent Israel-Hamas conflict is one such issue, with the BJP calculating that many Christians are unhappy with the pro-Palestine stand taken by Kerala’s ruling CPI(M) and Congress. At Chemperi, which comes under Eruvessi panchayat, people from the Christian community, with the support of the BJP, had taken out a rally to pledge solidarity with Israel.

The price of rubber is another important issue in the region. Earlier this year, Joseph Pamplany, the Archbishop of Tellicherry in Kannur district, had said that Christians would back the BJP if the party could help increase rubber prices. The demand had also echoed in other rubber growing regions in the state.

Rubber trader Thomas Anathakkattu, whose shop-cum-residence was visited by the local BJP leaders Kumar and Thomas, told them that rubber farmers were pinning their hopes on the party.

“A large number of Christians in the region, who were traditionally with Congress, now pin their hopes on the BJP,” he said. He also explained that while many people in the region believe that Modi will remain in power for another term, they may not vote for the BJP because they are not confident that the party will do well in Kerala.

“Although the BJP government has delivered on many areas, people will wonder why we should waste a vote by supporting a party that is not going to win,” Anathakkattu said.

The BJP team’s next visit was to the house of Tomy Puthiyedathuparambil, who said many Christians had concerns about the stance of the CPI(M) and the Congress towards the community.

“There was Muslim appeasement in Kerala during the Israel-Hamas conflict. CPI(M) and Congress are vying with each other to appease Muslims. This has given an impression to us that these parties will not back the (Christian) community. Hence, many have a feeling that the BJP will be the only party that will stand behind the Christians,” he said.

Taxi owner Suni Edaparambil, when visited by the BJP team, asked them about reports of attacks on Christian churches and institutions in north Indian states. Kumar tried to reassure him, saying: “We are all part of Indian culture and there is no ground for any such attacks…”

As the Sneha Yatra went on, two more local BJP leaders – Renjith V V and Benny Augustine – joined the team. At every house they visited, the leaders made it a point to ask what residents felt about the nine years under Modi’s premiership. At every farmer’s house they went to, they also asked whether residents were getting payment under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi minimum income support scheme, and other central government schemes.