Kochi: As the prime minister’s motorcade crossed the Venduruthy Bridge separating the INS Garuda Naval Base from the mainland, the teeming mass of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters was in for a pleasant surprise: Narendra Modi alighted from his vehicle, clad in a flowing white kurta and a dhoti with a golden zari border, and began to walk, waving to the cheering crowds.
In Kochi Monday, as part of a two-day visit to Kerala, Modi addressed Yuvam 2023 — a youth outreach programme organised by the Vibrant Youth for Modifying Kerala, a front for the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) — and, amid the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP’s) push to court Christians in the state, met a delegation of bishops from various denominations.
At Thevara junction, policemen struggled to hold back the BJP cadres waiting to catch a glimpse of the prime minister. And soon, as Modi entered Pandit Karuppan Road, from where he had to traverse a mile to the Sacred Heart College ground — the venue of Yuvam 2023 — began a shower of flower petals, which continued throughout. The stretch was divided into 10 clusters, each assigned to a specific leader of the BJP in Kerala.
The humidity levels were high but BJP supporters thronging behind the bamboo barricades on both sides of the narrow stretch were ecstatic seeing the prime minister walk past them. By the time he reached the Mattummal Bridge, Modi had boarded the vehicle (since the crowd had been cleared from from the premises), and covered the remaining roadshow on its footboard.
“First Vande Bharat Express of Kerala, Water Metro in Kochi and the other initiatives will further Kerala’s development journey,” Modi said at the event. “My government focuses on cooperative federalism and considers the development of states the source of development of the country.” He went on to flag off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat train and inaugurate the Kochi Water Metro the next day.
Meanwhile, at the Sacred Heart College ground, an estimated 15,000 young people who registered for the event had assembled, braving the afternoon heat. Apart from those who were expected to figure, others such as Anil Antony and actor Unni Mukundan, singer Vijay Yesudas and actors Aparna Balamurali and Navya Nair were also in attendance.
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A political event
The event didn’t pack too many surprises. After the welcome speech by BJP Kerala president K. Surendran, the prime minister went on to deliver a 40-minute speech in Hindi, translated into Malayalam by Union minister V. Muraleedharan.
Although the venue was devoid of BJP flags, Modi’s speech left nobody in doubt that it was conceived as a political event. He attacked both the ruling Left and the opposition Congress, positioning the BJP as the only alternative.
“While one ideology placed the political party over the interests of the state, the other places the interest of a family over the interests of the state. The youth of Kerala have realised that both these ideologies are playing with their future,” the prime minister said at the event.
There was the expected criticism about unemployment in Kerala, although Modi did not touch upon the mass migration of undergraduate students abroad and the resultant brain drain, which may have resonated with the crowd.
The audience, consisting of students, was brought from all over Kerala through managements sympathetic to the BJP’s cause, including from the institutions run by Mata Amritanadamayi. However, many students who turned up said they were left disappointed when the event concluded without an interactive session with the prime minister as expected.
Instead, it became a monologue of sorts, an extension of the prime minister’s monthly radio show Mann Ki Baat, which he invoked in his speech, by drawing the attention of the audience to the 100th episode due next week. There were references to the BJP’s electoral wins in the Christian-dominated northeastern states and Goa too, and Modi exuded confidence of replicating it in Kerala in the near future.
After the event, state BJP leaders were not forthcoming as to why there was no interactive session at Yuvam 2023. Speaking to ThePrint, BJYM state president Praphul Krishnan expressed his disappointment over the session not happening.
“The event was delayed by 30 minutes. Moreover, cordless mikes could not be used and we were told at the last minute that it could not go through,” he told ThePrint. But asked if the prime minister had vetoed it, he said he didn’t think so.
That notwithstanding, the BJP did manage to set the political narrative for once in Kerala, and the 20-minute walk by the prime minister — who enjoys much more popularity in the state than local BJP leaders — got widespread coverage.
Christian outreach
After Yuvam 2023 drew to a close with the prime minister’s speech, Modi arrived at the iconic Taj Malabar hotel in Willingdon Island, where met eight prominent Church representatives.
Apart from the Mar Thoma faction, all the non-protestant churches were represented — from Cardinal George Alencherry of the Syro-Malabar Church, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis of the Malankara Catholic faction, Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil representing the Latin rite, Baselios Marthoma Mathews III of the Malankara Orthodox faction, Joseph Mar Gregorios of the Malankara Jacobite faction, Mathew Moolakkatt of the Knanaya Catholic faction, Kuriakose Mar Severios of the Knanaya Jacobite faction and Archbishop Awgin Kuriakose of the Chaldean faction.
It is understood that the BJP did not get a favourable response from Theodosius Mar Thoma, hence his absence. According to highly-placed sources, the BJP is learnt to have not extended invites to the sizeable Church of South India or other protestant factions. The invitation to the bishops and their participation was ensured by the BJP’s special ‘minority prabhari’ in Kerala, K.S. Radhakrishnan, who enjoys an excellent rapport with different church leaders.
Formerly a vice-chancellor backed by the Congress, Radhakrishnan had switched allegiance to the BJP post 2016 and he has been tasked to be the point man for the BJP’s Christian outreach in Kerala. Along with former Union minister Prakash Javadekar as the in-charge and co-in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agarwal — whose in-laws hail from Thrissur — Radhakrishnan has become a vital cog in the BJP’s organisational hierarchy lately.
He was also present along with K.Surendran at the prime minister’s meeting with the church heads. But the short duration of 20 minutes left tongues wagging about what transpired at the tête-à-tête. Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil’s office conveyed that submissions were made highlighting issues such as the plight of fisherfolk along with prices of rubber, reservations and the issue of Scheduled Caste status for converts to Christianity.
The Malankara Jacobite faction is learnt to have taken up its long-pending dispute with the Orthodox faction. Modi also met actor Unni Mukundan — rumoured to be in the BJP’s radar to contest from Palakkad in 2024 — for 30 minutes at the hotel, where he stayed the night.
The prime minister’s event in Kochi has created a lot of buzz in Kerala, although the jury is still out on whether it can be converted into votes for the BJP.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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