Syro-Malabar Church head Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry handing over the holy baton to the newly elected Thalassery Diocese Bishop Joseph Pamplani, in Kannur. , Photo Credit: SK Mohan
TeaCaste violence in Manipur and the Centre’s reported move to draft the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) appears to have affected the BJP’s carefully crafted outreach to the minorities in Kerala.
There is a struggle and debate going on all over the country about the UCC and there is anger about the situation in Manipur. But nowhere is it more intense than in Kerala, given the state’s unique demographics. Muslims, who make up 28.6% of the state’s population, and Christians, who make up 18.4%, are both significant voting blocks.
Christian families in central and northern Kerala have seen a decline in income due to low prices of cash crops. The failure of successive Congress and CPI(M) governments to guarantee remunerative prices for rubber and spices has left the community frustrated. The BJP is trying to convince Christians that the Modi government is a better bet for their economic and social prospects than either the Congress or the CPI(M). It has also spoken of the church’s irrational fears about a conspiratorial “love and drug jihad”.
The BJP is not under the illusion that Christians will flock to the party in one stroke in large numbers. However, he believes that even a perceived shift in Christian support could leave the Congress in a state of disarray and demoralize the CPI(M) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party’s efforts to make inroads into the community got a major boost a few months ago when the influential Syro-Malabar Catholic Church said it would join the BJP if the central government takes steps to improve the conditions of rubber cultivators and raise the minimum support. will support Rubber price up to ₹300.
But this friendship could not last long. When violence broke out in Manipur, Archbishop Joseph Pamplani of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church compared the situation to the 2002 Gujarat riots. He said the “barbarity” largely targeted Christians, and blamed the BJP-led government in Manipur for “secretly sanctioning” the violence against the community. He also criticized the Centre’s determination to implement the UCC. He called for solidarity against the law “designed to crush diversity and individual laws”.
The UCC debate has signaled a possible tectonic shift in Muslim politics in northern Kerala. In Kanthapuram, anti-Sunni groups led by AP Abubakar Musaliar, who is said to be left-leaning, and Syed Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal, who is said to support the Indian Union Muslim League, united in the face of the UCC threat. signaled solidarity. Minority voting in general elections. However, the jury is out on whether the alleged consolidation of Muslim votes would benefit the CPI(M)-led ruling front or the Congress-led opposition the most.
The BJP is struggling to appeal to voters in Kerala and urge them to trust its intentions. Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan said that the UCC would not violate the rights granted to minorities under the relevant articles of the Constitution. He said that the CPI(M) and the Congress were afraid to hold a debate on the UCC and the same as envisaged in Article 44 of the Constitution. He urged Muslims and Christians not to fall for the scaremongering of the CPI(M) and the Congress.
The party’s Kerala in-charge (in-charge) Prakash Javadekar said that the CPI(M), which fought for the UCC, has taken a page back from vote bank politics and changed its course. He said the UCC is applicable in Goa and Puducherry and Muslims in those areas have “no complaints”. He claimed that a uniform and secular set of laws was necessary to ensure gender justice. Mr Javadekar insisted that the UCC was in line with the founding principles of the Constitution, but “unfortunately, the IUML opposed the UCC”.
The CPI(M) and the Congress seem to have understood this anger and fear. He has indicated that he plans to point to the Manipur violence and the UCC resolution as reasons why voters should reject the BJP in 2024.
This means that the BJP will have to develop a new way of dealing with these challenges. Although unemployment in Kerala is high and the CPI(M) government is facing allegations of corruption as well as questions about its control over universities, it is the UCC and Manipur that dominate the discussion among minority communities in Kerala . The BJP would be keen to change the story.