BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar
| Photo Credit: Nirmal Harindran
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielding seven Christian candidates for the Kerala elections reflects the party’s gambit to woo the Christian community, traditionally supporters of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), in the State.
According to Census 2011, Christians make up around 18.4% of Kerala’s population.
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In its two candidate lists so far, the BJP has named Union Minister George Kurian from Kanjirappally, P. C. George from Poonjar, Anoop Antony Joseph from Thiruvalla, Shone George from Pala, Lijoy Paul from Mankada, Bijoy Thomas from Ollur, and M. J. Job from Alappuzha.
The BJP has been raising issues concerning the Christian community as part of its strategy, including extending support to the community in the Munambam land case involving a dispute between the Waqf Board and locals. The State BJP intervened constructively when two nuns were arrested in Chhattisgarh on charges of trafficking without evidence. Interestingly, the party has steered clear of its marquee issues in northern India, the sale and consumption of beef and other dietary injunctions.
But will the candidatures and outreach programmes enable the party to overcome its Hindutva image in a State of diversity?
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Joseph, the BJP’s State general secretary and Thiruvalla candidate, considered it “ironic” that the BJP was being characterised as communal.
“It is an irony that the BJP is considered to be a party of a particular section of Kerala, when BJP is the real secular party of Kerala, holding the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ of Prime Minister Modi. Here in Kerala, the party like the Indian Union Muslim League which has the name of a particular religion is called secular, whereas BJP which has ‘janata’ (people) in its name is called communal. This narrative has been set by Congress and CPI(M) to polarise minority votes,” he said.
Mr. Joseph said that the BJP’s efforts to gain the support of the Christian community were evident in Union Minister Suresh Gopi’s victory in the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat. “The community’s votes will be the reason for the BJP’s victory in these polls,” he said.
The BJP leader said the Congress was “rudderless” in the State and it will pay the price for neglecting the issues of the Christian community.
Mr. Joseph is considered one of the Christian faces projected by the BJP who is not a newcomer, but has been through the party organisation. He was national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha team and is also responsible for the Modi archive project, which is digitally collecting oral and written records related to Prime Minister Modi’s life.
The BJP has had to be counterintuitive with regard to its strategy in Kerala, after its success in Hindi-speaking States in northern India. A new playbook in the State has been long in framing with the execution to be tested in these Assembly polls.
Published – March 19, 2026 08:09 pm IST
