Sources said Christians would be invited to the homes of BJP workers for Vishu on April 15.
New Delhi:
With the Northeast under its belt, the BJP is out to win Kerala with a massive public outreach program that plans to embrace the two major non-Hindu communities – Muslim and Christian. Together, the two comprise 46 per cent of the population, which is crucial to crack down on a state that has traditionally been a bastion of the Left and the Congress.
The BJP, which increased its reach in Kerala ahead of the 2019 elections, has been unable to make inroads.
Breaking with the national trend, the party drew a blank in the state despite its vigorous agitation on the Sabarimala issue. The Congress had won 15 of the state’s 20 Lok Sabha seats. Its allies won four more – the Indian Union Muslim League won two and the Kerala Congress (Mani group) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party one seat each.
The result was seen as a rejection of the party’s stance on religious issues.
The BJP’s growth in the state has been stalled despite several incidents of communal clashes between right-wing supporters and leftists.
Sources said a bigger outreach program has been planned this time, in which BJP workers would visit homes of Christians during the Easter week. On April 9, Easter Sunday, 10,000 BJP workers will visit the homes of one lakh Christians.
Sources said that last year, during the Christmas week, thousands of BJP workers took gifts to the homes of Christians.
In the third week of April, on Eid, right-wing activists will also visit the homes of Muslims.
Christians will be invited to the homes of right-wing activists on the festival of Vishu on April 15.
BJP leaders say that while the common people have welcomed the initiative, the ruling Left parties and the opposition Congress are keeping a close eye on it.
The outreach is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who asked the party cadre to organize a “Sneh Samvad” (message of affection) to the minorities in Kerala during the party’s national executive meeting in Hyderabad.
After the victory in three northeastern states, PM Modi also said in a program organized at the BJP headquarters in Delhi that the party will form a coalition government in Kerala, where assembly elections are due in 2026.
He indicated that this time, the party would depend on the support of the Christian community, he said, who had given it a lot of support in the Northeast.
Pointing to the two major parties in Kerala, he said the Left and the Congress are arch rivals in the state, contesting the Tripura elections as allies.
Sources said the BJP is also planning a “Thank you Modi” programme, which would include testimonies from beneficiaries of various central projects in the state. Already nearly 12,000 people have sent “Thank Modi” videos in Malayalam.
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