THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to further woo Christians, BJP leaders in the state will invite members of the minority community in their areas to their homes for Hindu festivities. This comes after the party organised the ‘sneha yatra’, last December, by visiting Christian houses with sweets to strengthen its ties with the community.
The latest outreach programme is a continuation of the yatra, which aims to build personal rapport with individual Christian families. “The state- and district-level leaders and office-bearers will invite Christian families for Hindu festivals. The aim is to strengthen the personal bond with members of the community,” a BJP state leader told TNIE.
“The local leaders will also invite families to their personal celebrations, like birthdays and other functions. With the strengthening of bonds, the image created by a section of the media in Kerala about the BJP and its leaders will change,” he said. With Vishu and Easter due in April, the leadership believes the programme will bear fruit. Although the programme will be implemented in the state, it will be part of the party’s agenda to engage with the Christian community at the national level. The RSS also considers the Christian community its next best-trusted partner at the national level.
Apart from the minority community, the party leadership will also focus on low-income groups. According to its calculations there are around five to six lakh beneficiaries of central government-sponsored schemes in the state. BJP has collected the addresses of these beneficiaries and will reach out to them for feedback.
As part of the programme, called ‘Thank You, Modi’, BJP activists will contact the families and enquire about the schemes benefiting them. They will also record videos of the beneficiaries thanking the prime minister for the same. The party leadership hopes to reach around 60 lakh people through the programme and see the fruits of their labour in the 2024 parliamentary election. The central leadership has issued instructions for the programme. It also wants party leaders to visit the beneficiaries in their local areas.