KOCHI: The groundswell of emotion that marked Oommen Chandy’s demise and funeral was just the latest indication of the former chief minister’s singular standing in Congress. More critically, with Chandy missing from the picture, the grand old party’s hopes of retaining its traditional Christian vote base may be called into question, considering that it lacks community leaders with even half his stature -- those who enjoy a strong bond with the church, its leaders and laity.
The party has been struggling to hold on to its Christian support that drifted towards the CPM in the 2021 assembly polls following K M Mani’s demise and the KC(M)’s subsequent move to the LDF camp. Compounding its woes is the fact that a small section of voters, who have been traditionally aligning with the Congress, has broken ranks to side with the BJP in recent years.
A seasoned politician, Chandy always shared an excellent rapport with all community groups, and ahead of key election battles he was known to huddle with various Christian groups to ensure their support. He was the UDF’s key troubleshooter and the alliance will sorely miss a pillar of strength that brought stability and astuteness in its decision-making. All of a sudden, the burden of maintaining a hotline with church leaders falls on KPCC president K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, who are not totally comfortable with the associated dynamics.
“The loss of Chandy may adversely affect its election prospects. Though there are many leaders, such as Benny Behanan, who can be projected as Christian faces, they lack acceptability,” said political commentator and veteran journalist P Sujathan. “The Congress is losing the support of churches it had once taken for granted,” he said. However, political pundits believe the spontaneous outpouring of emotion that followed Chandy’s demise, and the attack on Christians in Manipur could improve the party’s chances with the community in next year’s Lok Sabha election.
“Chandy’s passing has saddened everybody. However, the Christian community will continue to support the UDF. A section that aligned with the BJP recently has backtracked from their stand following the Manipur riots,” said M P Joseph, a former IAS officer and UDF candidate from Thrikaripur, Kasaragod, in the last assembly election.
When the CPM’s success in making inroads into the Christian vote bank, especially in the previous local body and assembly elections, was brought up, Joseph said that in the current scenario, even that is untenable.
Taking a contrasting line, Fr Paul Thelakkat, former spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church, said that youth from the Christian community is now least interested in entering politics. “They are migrating abroad and are focused on their professional lives. That’s a key reason for the dearth of strong leaders from the community. There are many young Christian faces, but they lack the qualities of a Chandy or an A K Antony. The lack of capable Christian youth leaders will affect the party in the long term,” he said, adding that the Church should seriously analyse and study the migration of youths and its socio-cultural and economic impact.
Party insiders point out that Congress still has leaders such as Behanan, who now heads the ‘A’ group. But the fact remains that they lack the mass support enjoyed by Chandy.
Sujathan said the Church has always wanted to associate itself with the political outfit that is in power at the Centre. “Considering that the Congress has lost its heft in New Delhi, the community will extend support to BJP despite its ideology. Currently, the CPM is applying the UDF strategy of keeping communities together in its fold,” he said.
Senior leaders K V Thomas and P J Kurien enjoyed the backing of various Christian groups in the past. However, Thomas is now in the LDF camp as Pinarayi Vijayan government’s special representative in New Delhi while Kurien is well past his prime and is not active in organisational affairs.