Kannur: Joseph Pamplany, metropolitan archbishop of Thalassery archdiocese in Kannur district, on Monday offered to help the BJP win a seat in Kerala in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The statement has sparked a controversy.
He said he is making the offer on behalf of farmers troubled by the decline of rubber prices. He said the help in the election campaign is in exchange for the Centre's potential help by increasing the rubber price to Rs 300/kg. He also clarified that he is speaking on behalf of farmers, not the Catholic Church, reported NDTV.
He was speaking at a meeting attended mostly by farmers. "No protest in a democracy has value if it does not translate into votes during elections. We will tell the central government that whichever your party may be, we will vote for you if you can increase the price of rubber to ₹ 300. The migrant population will address the issue of your lack of an MP from here."
Kerala BJP chief K Surendran said the Centre will respond positively to the suggestion.
Union minister of state for external affairs, V Muraleedharan said this only proves that the Left and the Congress consider minorities as vote banks. "Why was the archbishop trolled after he made the statement? They consider the minorities, the Christians, their vote bank. They want Christians to be their vote bank. This stand is getting exposed." Speaking at a press conference, he accused the ruling Left and the Congress of not allowing them to express their views freely if they favour the party ruling at the Centre. He said both parties are targeting religious Christian leaders whose statements tend to support the BJP.
He further criticised the Congress for blaming the BJP for the alleged attacks on churches and noted that BJP is in power in states like Goa and those in the northeast regions where Christians are present in large numbers. The attacks on churches were reported in Chhattisgarh where Congress is in power.