Rich Kerala Christians praise Narendra Modi as he gets Orthodox Seminary support

KOCHI: Narendra Modi, the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janatha Party ( BJP), and his policies seem to have made a positive impact on the richer sections of Kerala’s Christians.

For a second time in the last two weeks, two smaller Christian denominations, dominated by businessmen and professionals, have made statements in support of Narendra Modi and his work in Gujarat.

Last week it was the head of the Orthodox Seminary, Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II, who found Modi acceptable.

On Wednesday, it was the turn of the head of the Metropolitan Thomas Mar Thimotheos of the Kottayam diocese of Jacobite Syrian Church to express similar sentiments. Thomas Mar Thimotheos said that the Church was not against Modi or his party. He said that he expected BJP to fight corruption.

He was speaking to reporters after a meeting with BJP leader P K Krishnadas. However, the Latin Church, with a large section living below the poverty line, still has apprehensions about Narendra Modi’s rapid rise in the country’s political scene. The spokesmen of the Latin Catholic Church said that the Latin Christians are still concerned about the “anti-minority stand of Modi”.

“There is fear among the community about his policies. We cannot accept him or his party as long as that fear exists”, said Shaji George convenor of Kerala Regional Latin Catholic Council’s Political Committee. The working class-dominated Latin Catholic Church has a lot of fishermen and construction workers. Interestingly, a week ago the Orthodox seminary head Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II had said that there is nothing wrong in accepting Modi if he shows religious tolerance.

The members of the Orthodox Church have got a good opinion about Modi, he had said. According to him, Modi has done everything for people to do business in a better way.

The atmosphere for business and industry is good and there is no red tape, he added. However, the following day he denied that he had spoken in favour of Modi. When contacted, the spokesman for the other big Catholic denomination of Kerala, the Syro Malabar Church, Father Paul Thelekkat said that the Christian Churches stand strongly in support of secularism. He said that the statements of those who accepted Modi, “should not be read as statements endorsing Modi’s fundamentalist options”.