THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Orthodox Church’s boycott of conciliatory meeting with the Jacobite faction called by the government is a major jolt to the LDF and the CPM in particular during the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
Express had earlier reported the Orthodox Church is antagonistic to the government and the CPM following the failure of the government to hand over its churches from the Jacobite faction on the basis of the Supreme Court judgment. The Orthodox faction feels the government is simply taking it for a ride.
“The state government calling a conciliatory talk with the Jacobite faction does not have any relevance. The Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the Orthodox faction regarding the control of 1,064 churches and, what is there for reconciliation without implementing the Supreme Court order,” Biju Oommen, Orthodox Church secretary, told Express.“This amounts to non-compliance with the SC verdict. We are not for any talks in this regard,” he said.
The government had called conciliatory talks as the Orthodox church had already taken a tough stand against the CPM in coming LS polls. It may be noted the Church can determine the fortunes of the candidates in Pathanamthitta, Mavelikkara, Kottayam and Idukki seats and the Left front does not want to lose these seats owing to the antagonistic stance of the Orthodox Church.
In the 2016 Assembly elections, the Orthodox Church had openly come out in support of Veena George MLA, who contested from Aranmula constituency. Veena won the elections defeating veteran Congress leader K Sivadasan Nair.