2024 Lok Sabha polls: In an attempt to establish a strong foothold in southern State Kerala ahead of the 2024 general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to woo the prominent minority community Christian in the state as they hosted a breakfast for their members on Vishu (Malayalam New Year) on Saturday (April 15). Earlier on Easter Sunday, the saffron party had organised a “sneha yatra” to Christian homes.
BJP leaders in the state invited representatives of Christian community to their houses to celebrate the Hindu festival. Former Union minister Prakash Javadekar, in charge of the party’s Kerala unit, took part in the breakfast meeting organised at district party president VV Rajesh’s house in Thiruvananthapuram. Two priests of a prominent Christian denomination were invited to the event. Javadekar received them by draping a shawl and served them breakfast.
Attempt to forge close ties with Christian community
Similar breakfast programmes were arranged in other districts also under the aegis of local leadership of the saffron party, sources said. The move was seen as a further attempt by the BJP to forge close ties with the Christian community as part of efforts to woo them ahead of the 2024 general elections.
Javadekar later said that India is land of diversity and the country's ethos is live and let live. "On the earth, this is one of the few countries where all people and all religions live together and festivals are celebrated by all. So, today is Vishu and we all are here," he told reporters. Stating that the BJP leaders and activists had visited several houses extending wishes on Easter, he said they called all Christian and Muslim friends and neighbours to the house of the party functionaries on the day of Vishu. "So, this is real India and this is what we nurture...this is BJP's ethos," Javadekar said and rejected the political opponents' charge that it was part of their vote-bank politics eying the impending Lok Sabha polls.
BJP leaders to visit residences of Muslim community members on Eid
Javadekar in a tweet said the BJP is conveying PM Modi's message that "we are all citizens of India regardless of religion or caste." The BJP state leadership had already announced that they would visit the residences of Muslim community members also in the state to exchange greetings on the occasion of Eid next week. The BJP's massive minority outreach programme is in line with PM Modi's announcement last month that the party would capture power in the southern state. Both the ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress in Kerala had criticised the BJP's bid to woo the Chrisitan community and alleged that it indicated the saffron party's "double standards."
(With PTI inputs)
