Church puts pressure on Congress in Kerala

The Church is going to expand the base of All Kerala Catholic Congress across the state to all dioceses and declaration of the new pressure group is expected on May 4, 2014.

Kochi:  Some recent incidents in Kerala shows that Church is upset with Congress party and not afraid to express it explicitly.

If the cold welcome given to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy when he visited Syro-Malabar Church Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazath on Monday afternoon in Thrissur is an indication of the change of mindset of the church, definitely the Congress would be at loss in many constituencies where the Church has a say on the votes.

The meeting between the Chief Minister and the bishop was arranged by the Congress leaders with the hope of ending the stalemate between the church and the party did not yield the desired result as the bishop was reluctant to talk politics with him. The sources told India Today that bishop didn't even step out of his room to receive Chandy and the meeting lasted barely half an hour. Sources said that the bishop conveyed his displeasure over several recent incidents where church leaders were being insulted and hurt by Congress leaders through their verbal attacks.

India Today quoted reliable sources that Church was not happy with the way Congress party was working and many promises given by the party lay unfulfilled even after many years. The Church is also worried that many leaders of Congress were not ready to accept the dictum of the church and openly criticized them before the public.

"We are not getting any favours from Congress. Our demands were not met by the party even though they lead the ruling front. We are now forced to form a consolidation of people under the Church which will definitely raise issues on various topics ranging from politics to economy and from business to education," says a member of All Kerala Catholic Congress (AKCC) of Syro-Malabar Church.

India Today reported that that the Church is going to expand the base of All Kerala Catholic Congress across the state to all dioceses and declaration of the new pressure group is expected onMay 4, 2014.

Idukki bishop Mathew Anikuzhikattil's upbraiding against Congress candidate Dean Kuriakose on March 15, 2014 was resulted out of this irritation. The bishop scolded the candidate who visited him for seeking blessings and even said that Congress people arrive at his house only to seek votes. Many young Congress leaders were hurt on seeing the ill treatment meted out to their candidate at the bishop house. V T Balram, a young Congress MLA with mass support base in the state commented on Facebook that there still exist some despicable creatures among us who don't know to respect those visiting their house. Congress leader T N Pratapan too criticized the bishop for insulting Dean Kuriakose.

Later Balram was forced to regret over making such a comment through Facebook after Chief Minister Omman Chandy and KPCC president V M Sudheeran instructed him not to make such comments during the election time. After meeting the Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, at an election convention meeting of Congress in Thrissur, Chandy said that the word despicable creature should not be there in any Congressman's dictionary and Congress leaders should bear criticism, may it be from any corner, with a sense of tolerance.

Interestingly, many Congressmen in Kerala share the view of VT Balram and want the party to be free from the influence of the parish community. It should also be noted that Balram didn't apologize for the comments he made in Facebook against the bishop and just said that he would continue to work imbibing the spirit of the resolutions passed in political camps and conferences in his fresh post.

Source: India Today