KOCHI: A keenly-watched trend in this election would be the impact the Latin Catholic (LC) Church has on its community, especially after it did not make its backing to some candidates a secret.
The Church is backing candidates from the community fielded by both LDF and UDF in various seats, irrespective of government policies or the Opposition’s stand on an issue that affects it. A glance at the parties’ candidate lists shows that the Church is openly backing at least three LDF candidates — Daleema Jojo (Aroor), K J Maxi (Kochi) and Antony Raju (Thiruvananthapuram) and one Congress contestant — M Vincent (Kovalam).
Interestingly, Tony Chammany, who belongs to the community, does not have the Church’s support. “Maxi enjoys support from the Kochi bishop, who wants a candidate who is a resident of the area,” a source said. Chammany lives in Kaloor.In Ernakulam constituency, which is a part of Archdiocese of Verapoly, the Left independent candidate Shaji George’s name was suggested by Soosa Pakiam M, Archbishop of Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, said sources. Shaji is also the vice-president of the Kerala Regional LC Council.
The Ernakulam seat has a significant LC community presence and the two leading fronts prefer to field a person from the community here. T J Vinod, the Congress candidate, is an LC. “Both Vinod and Shaji are from the LC community. So, we are adopting a neutral stand in Ernakulam,” said Fr Joseph Padiyaramparambil, member of the political affairs committee of the Archdiocese of Verapoly. P Ramachandran, general secretary of Ernakulam Karayogam, said it was high time political parties chose candidates based on merits and not on community equation, especially in an important constituency like Ernakulam.
The LC Church has also adopted a neutral stance in Vypeen, which has a huge presence of voters from the community. The key candidates in Vypeen — Deepak Joy of Congress and LDF’s K N Unnikrishnan — are not from the community. “In Vypeen, we are not taking any stance in favour of a party or a candidate,” said Fr Padiyaramparambil. The community also has no major say in Vypeen as proven by S Sarma, who has been winning from the seat for the last six terms. This is because Dheevara caste, a fishing community, dictates the terms in Vypeen.
Kundara, where fisheries minister Mercykutty Amma is pitted against Congress’ P C Vishnunath, is also a keenly-watched contest, especially after Kollam Bishop Antony Mullassery issued a pastoral letter against the government’s deep-sea trawler deal. But, there’s a twist. Sources said a large number of priests from the diocese are unhappy with the letter and have objected to it internally.It remains to be seen how the undercurrents in the Latin Catholic, which has nearly 9.33 lakh members in the state, play out when the ballots are opened on May 2.