KOCHI: Inspired by the success of Sneha Yatra, its Christian outreach drive launched on Easter Sunday, the BJP state leadership has decided to prepare a comprehensive strategy for allaying the concerns of the community and bringing the Church closer to the party.
The BJP core committee, which met in Kochi on Tuesday, decided to cash in on the enthusiasm generated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by his visit to the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi. The response of the Christian community in Kerala to the PM’s visit has boosted the confidence of the BJP state unit, and president K Surendran has stressed the need to get closer to the community through more interactions.
The party will task former Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam and state general secretary George Kurian with reaching out to Christian denominations.
They will be responsible for holding talks with bishops to understand their feelings, take up with the national leadership the issues raised by the Church and get them addressed by the Union government. Since LDF and UDF keep bringing up attacks on missionaries in northern states, BJP has decided to address such concerns too.
Meet discusses ways to rejuvenate party network in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur for 2024
Kannanthanam was invited to the core committee meeting to give suggestions for evolving a strategy to attract various Christian groups to BJP. The ex-minister maintains excellent rapport with various bishops, and the party believes he can play a key role in winning the community’s favour.
Six prominent party leaders, including Yuva Morcha president C R Praful Krishnan, BJP state vice-president K S Radhakrishan and Mahila Morcha state president Niveditha Subramanian , were invited to Tuesday’s meeting to discuss the preparations for the Yuvam Youth Conference in Kochi on April 25 – in which the PM will interact with students and youngsters – the Vanitha Sangamam in Thrissur and the ex-servicemen conference in Kozhikode.
The events in Thrissur and Kozhikode will be held after the Karnataka assembly elections. While Union Minister Smriti Irani is expected to inaugurate the Thrissur meet, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to attend the conference in Kozhikode.
Through the programmes, BJP aims to reach out to the youth, women and veterans of the armed forces. The core committee also discussed rejuvenating the party network at the grassroots in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur so that preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls can be launched right away. District presidents V V Rajesh and K K Aneesh were the other leaders invited to the meeting.