How Christians are responding to BJP’s pre-poll outreach in Kerala
Kozhikode-Thrissur-Kochi: When Congress veteran A.K. Antony’s son Anil Antony joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2023, the party had big plans to leverage his background to woo the electorally significant Christian community in Kerala. Appointed national secretary three months later, Anil was expected to strengthen BJP’s presence and build confidence among Christians, who viewed BJP through prism of Hindutva politics.
But then came the reality check for Anil and the BJP: the Congress turncoat came third behind Anto Antony of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Thomas Issac of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Pathanamthitta in the 2024 general election. The Christians have a considerable presence in this parliamentary seat in southern Kerala.
Nearly two years on, the BJP is again actively wooing Christians—this time as Kerala votes on 9 April. In its poll manifesto, the party is promising the Christian community a “micro-minority status” and “equitable access to welfare schemes, scholarships, and community development benefits” to the group.
“Institutional recognition will help integrate micro-minorities into Keralam’s development agenda and safeguard them against social and political marginalisation,” the BJP’s manifesto document reads.
And yet, the winds are not exactly favourable. The introduction of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 has fuelled fears, especially among Christians who feel this will further curtail donations from overseas.
The assault on a pastor in BJP-ruled Odisha after Sunday prayers, attacks on Christians, and the proactive introduction of anti-conversion laws in several northern states have widened the trust deficit further.
A BJP MP conceded that the FCRA bill’s timing “was not great”. BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrashekar has said that the local unit urged the central government not to pass the legislation at this stage because it has fuelled apprehensions among religious minorities.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP has aggressively sought Christian support as the community has the potential to play a decisive role in several seats across the southern state. Modi met Major Archbishop Mar Raphael Thattil, the head of the Syro-Malabar Church, along with other senior Church leaders, in New Delhi last November.
Had a wonderful interaction with the head of the Syro-Malabar Church, Major Archbishop His Beatitude Most Rev. Mar Raphael Thattil, His Grace Archbishop Dr. Kuriakose Bharanikulangara and others. pic.twitter.com/Lw6xC0OLKC
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 4, 2025
As for Anil, his intervention in BJP’s activities has been limited to occasional press conferences and event participation. However, he has participated in several BJP campaigns for the past few weeks. “His entry was with the hope that he would work on the ground and penetrate the vote bank. But he ends up spending more time in Delhi and holding international conferences,” said the BJP MP mentioned earlier.
Outreach & skepticism
The Christians in Kerala remain fluid in their political choices, leaving a window of hope for all those vying for their votes. The past week has been a period of break as the Christian community observed Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Political parties slowed down during Lent, a period of around 45 days during which Christians spend time on self-reflection.
Manju Shamin, a 46-year-old independent manpower recruitment consultant who also runs an aviation academy, just returned from Good Friday prayers in the port city of Calicut.
“We are a bit skeptical about the BJP but are also quite inquisitive about what they can do and if they are going to bring in some changes,” she said.
She told ThePrint that Christians have taken turns backing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), retaining their bargaining power with both alliances.
Both parties, she said, have taken the community for granted. But, the BJP comes with some baggage. “We think the BJP coming will bring some promise of development. But at the same time, being a minority community, we have our own skepticism about their views.”
Similarly, T.J. Jacob, a student walking out of Calicut’s Mother of God Cathedral, said that youngsters are not inclined to vote based on ideology but on promises that secure their future.
According to the 2011 Census, the Christian community accounts for 18.38 percent of Kerala’s population, behind 54.73 percent Hindus and 26.56 percent Muslims. The community has a significant presence in central Kerala and central Travancore, particularly in districts such as Kottayam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, and Thrissur.
Then, there are various Christian groups, including different denominations of Syrian Christians, Latin Catholics, and Protestant churches.
Traditionally, the community has largely supported the UDF in Kerala, but the 2024 Lok Sabha polls showed a shift, with a section backing the BJP, a factor that contributed to the historic victory of its candidate Suresh Gopi in Thrissur.
This was also the result of the BJP’s continuous outreach over the years, as it was unable to find a foothold in the southern state relying only on the Hindu community’s votes. One approach was giving space to leaders from the Christian community.
In 2017, the BJP appointed Alphons Kannanthanam as the Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and MoS (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Tourism. He was the second BJP central minister from Kerala after O. Rajagopal.
A former IAS officer, Kannanthanam was elected as the MLA representing Kottayam’s Kanjirappally constituency as an LDF independent candidate in 2006. He joined the BJP in 2011. Kannanthanam later became a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan. Though he contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Ernakulam, he finished third.
In the ongoing poll campaign, Kannanthanam was seen campaigning for the party’s Pala candidate, Shone George.
Like Anil Antony, Tom Vadakkan switched from the Congress to the BJP in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and currently serves as the party’s national spokesperson. He largely focuses on work in Delhi.
Anil Antony’s interface at a round table discussion on the
New Middle power Consensus
navigating US-China bi-polarity
organised by India’s world mag
and Stiftung mercator @BJP4India pic.twitter.com/7zVtEG196V— Tom Vadakkan (Modi ka Parivar) (@TomVadakkan2) March 5, 2026
In the following years, the BJP inducted more faces into its state leadership, with recent examples being the appointment of George Kurian as Union Minister in 2024 and appointing three Christians as the party’s state office bearers: Shone George, Anoop Antony Joseph and Jiji Joseph. In 2023, the BJP organised major outreach events such as the ‘Sneha Yatra’ campaign, visiting homes and church leaders, with its national faces such as PM Narendra Modi meeting senior bishops.
The Congress has fielded more than 20 Christian candidates this time, including those from the Syro-Malabar group. In Thrissur, the UDF broke a 48-year-old tradition of fielding candidates from the dominant Nair community and fielded Rajan J. Pallan. The former mayor, who is a Christian, is likely to help consolidate the vote bank. The BJP is betting its hope on former Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal there.
Shinju, a local trader in Thrissur, said Christians are being sought after by every party through door-to-door campaigns. “Like all parties, they also came home and sought a chance in the elections. We are not so sure whom to back as yet,” he said, looking under a pile of pamphlets the BJP distributed.
A senior Congress leader campaigning in Kerala told ThePrint that the Christians were “on the fence” and the party’s units will re-activate its outreach after Easter.
The BJP is not far behind. It has fielded seven Christians: P.C. George from Poonjar, his son Shone George from Pala, Anoop Antony Joseph from Thiruvalla, Lijoy Paul from Mankada, Bijoy Thomas from Ollur, M.J. Job from Alappuzha, and Union Minister George Kurian from Kanjirapally.
It also has around eight Christians as office bearers in the state unit, assuring the community that the party, if elected, will include the Christians in Kerala’s growth story.
“The BJP is a new competitor in Kerala, which has only the UDF and the LDF… Nowadays, the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) is coming up as the third front and trying its luck in an aggressive manner. But I am not sure if it will work this time, though it seems that a third front is also relevant in Kerala politics,” Father Abraham Irimbinikal, Vicar at the St Thomas Malankara Catholic Church in Kottayam, told ThePrint.
‘BJP will finish third’
Elsewhere, the BJP is busy trying to consolidate the Hindus, who unlike the Christians are a more splintered group.
In Munambam, where the BJP won a local ward in the recently concluded local body polls, its support among locals has reduced. The coastal village came into focus last year after the BJP made it a part of its campaign to justify the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
Benny Joseph, the convener of the protest, said that though a section of people initially supported the BJP, the party has not retained much backing since then. “Here, the party will finish third. We had promised them a ward member for highlighting our issue nationally, but they didn’t do anything after that. Secularism should remain in Kerala. The BJP is trying to polarise that, and we see through it,” he said, adding that the party is still reaching out to residents.
Nearly 600 families in the village had launched the protest in September 2024 after the Waqf Board claimed the land. The residents, from the fishing community comprising Latin Catholics, Syrian Catholics, and Hindus, were denied their revenue rights in 2022.
The local protest gained national attention after leaders, including Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju visited the village. Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged it in Parliament when the government introduced amendments to the Waqf Act. However, the amendment did not solve the problem, and the residents continued their protest.
The protest finally ended 30 November last year, after the Kerala High Court issued an interim order reinstating the revenue rights of the residents. However, a splinter group, suspected to be associated with the BJP, continues to protest outside the local church, seeking a permanent solution.
At the height of the tension following the arrest of two Catholic nuns in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh last year, the BJP held a door-to-door campaign among Christian households to counter what it called “misunderstandings” spread by the Congress.
However, the party faced a setback in the local body polls, where it was unable to make any inroads. Though a splintered voting bloc, the Christian community had largely hit back at the LDF as well by backing the Congress-led UDF in the Kerala local body polls.
‘Encourage Christians to be part of all parties’
Just before the elections, the LDF government accepted a three-year-old report by Justice (Retd) J.B.Koshy that recommended several measures to address concerns faced by the Christian community. Although the report was submitted in May 2023, the LDF Cabinet accepted it only in February 2026.The move was viewed as an ‘election strategy’.
It highlighted three broad concerns: declining population, youngsters migrating out of Kerala, and Christians being left out of the reservation matrix for government jobs.
The BJP is promising to change this. Members of the Christian community, including community leaders, told ThePrint that they are not averse to the BJP’s development-based outreach but are worried about the party’s ideological views.
“So many Christians are candidates in the BJP and the NDA. We encourage our people to become candidates in all parties to stand for the Church and society. At the same time, we are aware of the issues in the north (India), regarding Hindu extremism or political Islam extremism…we are aware of all of this too,” Father Michael Pulickal, secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council’s Vigilance Commission, told ThePrint.
Community leaders maintained that they do not tell Christians whom to back in the elections. While there is a sense of curiosity about what the BJP has in store for Kerala if it expands its voter base here, the apprehensions appear to outweigh them—at least for now.
