Kerala BJP’s balancing act totters as Christian outreach meets internal dissent

The strains in the BJP’s Christian outreach in Kerala did not begin in the open. They surfaced quietly during the campaign and only manifested publicly after polling, when former state police chief TP Senkumar stepped out to criticise state BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and question the party’s approach.

“Rajeev Chandrasekhar must understand that he has been appointed as the BJP’s Kerala president not to wipe out the remaining Hindus in the state. Whoever he may be, I am telling the Hindus here that if this course he is taking is not corrected, we as Hindus must respond. If possible, let him go and win by securing Christian votes. But no leader who works in a way that sidelines Hindus should be allowed to flourish in Kerala,” Senkumar said.

Eye on long-term gains

His remarks, coming after votes had been cast, gave voice to an unease that has been building beneath the surface.

For the BJP, outreach to the Christian community has been a calibrated political project over the past four to five years. The party understood that breaking into Kerala’s electoral landscape required expanding beyond its traditional base. Central Kerala, with its influential Syrian Christian population, became a key focus. Engagements with Church leadership, outreach on community concerns, and efforts to build trust through dialogue formed the backbone of this strategy. It was less about immediate electoral gains and more about long-term repositioning.

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There were moments that appeared to validate this approach. The party’s Lok Sabaha success in Thrissur was seen internally as a breakthrough, suggesting that sections of Christian voters were willing to engage, if not fully shift. It reinforced the belief that sustained outreach, coupled with the right local factors, could gradually reshape political alignments.

Building strain

However, this outreach hit a roadblock after attacks on nuns in Chhattisgarh and threats faced by Christian priests in several parts of the country, particularly in BJP-ruled states. This had a visible reflection in the local body elections, where the BJP lost much of the ground it had gained in the Lok Sabha polls, especially in Thrissur and Kottayam, and failed to make inroads into other regions.

In the run-up to the election, the FCRA controversy widened the gap between the NDA and the Church. Stricter regulations on foreign funding were viewed by many Church-run institutions as intrusive, fuelling concerns over autonomy.

As the campaign unfolded, signs of strain began to surface in the open, particularly in central Kerala, where the BJP fielded former MLA PC George and his son Shone George, both recent entrants with a Kerala Congress background, as candidates in Poonjar and Pala, alongside Union Minister George Kurien in Kanjirappally and state general secretary Anoop Antony in Thiruvalla.

Georges versus clergy

However, feedback from the ground suggested that the expected consolidation of Christian support was not materialising. Reports that sections of the clergy were signalling caution, or even opposition, to BJP candidates began to circulate. The perception that the Church establishment, or at least influential parts of it, was not responding positively to the outreach created visible anxiety within local ranks.

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PC George publicly criticised the Bishop of Kanjirappally, Mar Jose Pulickal, accusing him of using Church-linked institutions for political intervention. He also raised the issue of the FCRA amendment, defending the Centre’s position and pushing back against criticism from Church quarters. Shone escalated matters further with sustained attacks on Deepika, the Catholic daily, alleging that it was acting as a partisan voice rather than maintaining neutrality.

These attacks marked a clear departure from the BJP’s carefully managed outreach messaging. But they were not the starting point of the rift. Instead, they reflected a reaction to what was perceived as a withdrawal of support from a community the party had been trying to engage.

The underlying contradiction

Responding to George’s allegation that the Kanjirappally bishop had canvassed votes for the UDF, Pala Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt asserted that the clergy could not always remain neutral.

“Always neutral means always irrelevant, which is not feasible. Don’t we have the right to seek votes publicly. Whom should we fear? We should present the truth courageously before the people. Religions always have a role to play in the public sphere. Religious faith has the right to inform and influence public debate,” he said.

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Within the BJP, the episode has exposed an underlying contradiction. The party’s Kerala strategy has rested on two parallel tracks. One seeks accommodation and dialogue with minority communities, particularly Christians. The other accommodates leaders who adopt a more confrontational tone rooted in a broader ideological framework. Managing both simultaneously requires careful balance.

A work in progress

This time, at least in central Kerala, that balance appears to have faltered. The aggressive posture adopted by the Georges has drawn attention to the limits of the outreach strategy. It has also triggered concern within sections of the party that such rhetoric could undo the gains made through years of patient engagement. The fact that these tensions became publicly visible only after polling does not diminish their significance. If anything, it suggests that the contradictions were contained during the campaign but could not be held in check beyond it.

The contrast with Thrissur is instructive. There, the BJP’s success was built on a combination of candidate appeal, local dynamics, and a degree of openness among voters to consider alternatives. It did not involve a direct confrontation with the Church establishment. In Kottayam district, by contrast, the relationship with the Church has become the central axis of political contestation.

The larger implication is that the BJP’s attempt to expand its social base in Kerala remains a work in progress, vulnerable to both external resistance and internal inconsistency.