Satheesan described the remarks made by the father-son duo as “deplorable” and accused them of resorting to “threats” after realising that the BJP would not secure the expected votes in the Kerala Assembly elections.
File Photo: IANS
A day after BJP Kerala vice-president and NDA candidate from the Pala Assembly constituency, Shone George, and his father, P. C. George, criticised a section of the Catholic Church and its mouthpiece, Deepika daily, for allegedly asking people not to vote for the BJP, Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan on Saturday warned that any attempt to target, isolate, or attack the Christian community or its leadership would be strongly resisted by Kerala’s secular society.
Satheesan described the remarks made by the father-son duo as “deplorable” and accused them of resorting to “threats” after realising that the BJP would not secure the expected votes in the Kerala Assembly elections. He affirmed that the United Democratic Front (UDF) would be at the forefront in resisting any moves against the Church and its newspaper.
Advertisement
He also defended the right of church leaders to guide their followers, countering Shone George’s criticism that bishops were engaging in “cheap politics” by supporting the UDF and the Congress.
Advertisement
“The Sangh Parivar organisations are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Those who are targeting Christians across the country have entered churches with cakes for votes. Kerala society has the wisdom to recognise the cunning of the Sangh Parivar. The agenda of coming to power through threats and abuse will not work in Kerala,” Satheesan said.
Earlier, Shone George had alleged that a section of the Catholic Church and its mouthpiece, Deepika daily, were acting against the BJP and doing “servile work” for Congress leader K. C. Venugopal and Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K. Mani. He expressed strong dissatisfaction with what he described as the Church leadership’s anti-BJP stance during the Assembly elections.
Echoing similar views, his father P. C. George, a BJP leader and NDA candidate from the Poonjar constituency, warned Catholic bishops in Kerala against engaging in active politics. “Those bishops who speak politics will be seen as politicians by us. We will deal with them politically. We will not respect them,” he said, adding that the era of voting based on a bishop’s instructions is over.
Advertisement
