KOCHI: The Catholic Congress has strongly criticised the Indian National Congress over its electoral alliance with the Welfare Party in the Nilambur Assembly by-election, calling the move an "open challenge to Kerala’s secular democratic traditions" and an example of "opportunistic politics."
In a press release issued on Wednesday, the Catholic Congress, a lay organisation of Syro-Malabar Catholics, alleged that the Congress has compromised on core secular values by aligning with a party they claim is ideologically linked to religious fundamentalism.
The statement, signed by Catholic Congress Director Fr Mathew Thoommoolil, General Secretary Shaji Kandathil, and President Dr Chacko Kalampparambil, warned that such alliances risk legitimising extremism in mainstream politics.
According to the organisation, by teaming up with the Welfare Party -- described in the release as having global links to theocratic ideologies -- the Congress is undermining public trust and sacrificing principles for vote-bank politics. It termed the development a betrayal of the party’s own legacy as a secular force.
The statement further criticised attempts to justify the alliance by pointing to the Left Democratic Front’s ties with the PDF, saying that “one wrong cannot be justified by another.”
It called on both the Congress-led UDF and the ruling LDF to refrain from political partnerships that encourage communal polarisation.
The Catholic Congress warned that voters in Nilambur and elsewhere will see through what it described as the duplicity of parties that publicly denounce communalism but privately engage with radical elements. It cautioned that alliances built purely for electoral gain would alienate secular-minded voters and damage the broader democratic fabric.
The organisation urged voters to protect secular and democratic values and to respond decisively against political moves that pander to religious fundamentalism under the guise of electoral strategy.
