The BJP in Kerala has hit a snag as the central leadership’s talks with the Jacobite faction failed. The representatives returned from Delhi without seeing Union Home Minister Amit Shah, adding that the church will not take a pro-BJP stance. According to reports, the church’s decision follows BJP’s ineffectiveness to make promises in regards to the church conflict in Kerala. The Jacobite representatives said that the church would maintain its policy of equidistance in this election just as it did in the other elections.
Sources claimed that church representatives led by Metropolitan Trustee Bishop Mar Gregorious had only been engaged in preliminary talks with the BJP leadership. Hoping for a positive outcome, the talks continued, but since no such promises came, the church backed out. “We will help those who helped us and will help us, and so we will continue our previous electoral stance in this case as well,” the representatives told the media. Dr Kuriakose Mar Theophilos added that the church’s followers in each constituency would decide on whom to vote for. This indicates that the Jacobite faction has removed its complete support to BJP in Kerala.
Earlier, the Jacobite faction had agreed to support the saffron front since the BJP’s central leadership and the Union Ministry had promised to create a peaceful agreement with the Orthodox faction. The NDA had also been considering fielding five Jacobite representatives in Ernakulam for the upcoming Kerala assembly elections. It would have been a brilliant political move for the saffron party’s Kerala front, in what would have been a consolidation of popular votes in the area.
