Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran on Saturday visited Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany of the influential Syro-Malabar Catholic Church here, a move which is being seen as an attempt by the Congress party to counter the ongoing minority outreach programme of the BJP. Sudhakaran, along with the local leaders of the Congress party, visited Pamplany at the bishop-house and held a closed-door meeting in the evening. The meeting assumes more significance as Pamplany had recently created ripples in the political waters of Kerala by saying that if the Centre promised to increase the price of rubber procurement to Rs 300 per kg, BJP’s dearth of an MP from the southern state would be addressed. After the brief meeting, Sudhakaran told reporters outside the bishop house that he was all satisfied about the meeting and the Christian community in Kerala has always stood along with the Congress party. When asked about the BJP’s minority outreach programme and the ongoing visit of party leaders in the Christian houses, the KPCC chief said the BJP was not going to gain anything through this. ”The bishops have the right to visit and hold discussions with anyone. It is not causing any anxiety to us,” he said, adding that the Congress party always has faith among the bishops and priests. When asked about the purpose of the present visit, Sudhakaran said the state leadership of the Congress party has always been in contact with the priest community but they usually do not give publicity for that. Stating that he had a close relationship with Pamplany, Sudhakaran also said there was nothing wrong for him to ask the Centre to increase the price of rubber procurement to Rs 300 per kg. Earlier in the day, BJP leaders in Kerala hosted breakfast and feast for the members of the Christian community on the occasion of Vishu celebration with an aim to woo the prominent minority community. They had also conducted ‘sneha yatra’ to Christian homes on Easter day as an attempt to forge close ties with the Christian community as part of efforts to woo them ahead of the 2024 general elections. The BJP’s massive minority outreach programme is in line with 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.”
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