Why BJP’s Kerala strategy failed despite community outreach
The Christians in Kerala, led by their padres, bishops, and cardinals with those funny names, asked for a rose while the Hindus gave them a garden of roses. But in the election held for the Legislative Assembly, the Christians stabbed the Hindus from the back, front, and the sides. Barring three Hindu candidates (Rajeev Chandrasekhar, B B Gopakumar, and V Muraleedharan), none of the candidates fielded by the Hindu nationalist BJP and its allies, the Christian-owned Twenty20, and the BDJS could reach the finish line.
In the election held on 9th April 2026, the results of which were declared on 4th May, the Christiaan community en masse voted for the Congress-led UDF, which romped home with 102 seats. The Christians were caught with their “pants down” as the results prove that in all constituencies in the state where the Abrahamic religion is present, the BJP failed to mobilize their votes despite fielding a number of Christian candidates disproportionate to their presence in the Hindu-majority party.
The news that Christians dumped the BJP came out on April 5 itself, hardly 24 hours after the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were taken away to the strong rooms in counting centers. The polling day saw all vicars, padres, and even bishops ringing up nunneries and community leaders and asking them not to vote for the candidates fielded by the BJP. This came out in the open as P C George, the maverick seven-time legislator, went public about the dirty games played by the bishops of Kanjirappalli, who reportedly dialed all churches in Poonjar from where the former contested as a BJP candidate. A bishop who is popular as the Valsyayanan of Kanjirappalli, dialed the convents as early as 4 am and, after the routine pillow talks, asked the senior nuns to ensure that all community votes were cast in favor of the UDF candidates. George, who maintains good ties with the seminaries, convents, and churches, was informed by the nuns and vergers about the directives issued by the heads of the churches. The directive is reflected in the election results, and the BJP leadership learnt the lesson-never ever trust the Christians when it comes to voting in Assembly and parliament elections.[1]
“We have been maintaining cordial relations with the bishops and cardinals, cutting across their caste barriers. But we never expected them to stab us from all sides,” Prof. K S Radhakrishnan, former vice-chancellor of Adi Sankara Sanskrit University, who led the “Christian outreach program of the BJP told PGurus. He explained with statistics and data to drive home the truth that the Christians in Kerala cheated the BJP. “Poll data from constituencies where the Christians have a considerable or strong presence show that none of them have voted for the National Democratic Alliance. Interestingly, the three constituencies from where the BJP candidates won have negligible Christian presence,” said Prof Radhakrishnan, a respected scholar and author in the state.
He said the heads of Churches were told by the BJP leaders that there would not be any compromise in the party’s opposition to religious conversion of any kind. “We also told them that the central government was willing to resolve all their genuine demands. They were also told that Christians would be fielded as candidates in the election to the Assembly and Lok Sabha. This is all we could do,” said Prof Radhakrishnan.
But the Church heads shocked the BJP with their ever-growing demands. “Each bishop and priest had close links with various NGOs that are anti-national as well as anti-Hindus. These bishops demanded that the foreign funds received by these NGOs should be released without any probe into how they were being utilized. They also gave us a list of demands, like the number of governors to be appointed in states across the country so that they could circumvent laws prohibiting religious conversions. There is no Christianity without religious conversion,” said Prof Radhakrishnan.
Vatayar Sunil, veteran journalist and chief editor of India Live, said that there was a feeling among the BJP leadership that situations were conducive for the party to win at least 15 constituencies. But there were some inherent issues in the Hindutva party. “This was aggravated by the mainstream media, especially the TV channels, which portrayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as villains. The BJP leaders in the state failed in convincing the Hindus that the party was their sole hope and savior. Instead of blaming the Church for its antipathy towards the party, the BJP leaders should inculcate a sense of belonging among the Hindus in the state. The BJP leaders failed in convincing the followers of Sanatana Dharma that the party exists for the safety and security of the Hindus. How can we blame the Christians and the Church for refusing to vote for the Hindutva party?” asked Sunil, who had held an exit poll with WhatsApp groups created by him in all the Assembly constituencies across Kerala.
Elsewhere in the state, there is a feeling that the BJP and the Hindus were exploited by the Christians, who deployed the former to fight the Love Jihad trap against girls belonging to Christian families. “Kerala Story films were not run-of-the-mill works but the true portrayal of incidents featuring Hindu girls who were made to elope with Muslim boys to get married and end up as sex slaves in countries like Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, dominated by the Islamic State. Some Christian girls, too, fell victim to the evil designs of the Islamic Romeos. But the Christians who were not strong enough to take up the gauntlets thrown up by the Islamic extremists sought the help of Hindus, who obliged their rivals by saving the potential victims from ending up in the IS camps,” said E N Nandakumar, chronicler of Kerala’s modern history and a widely respected author.
Nandakumar also warned the BJP and the Hindu leaders in the state against the traps being laid by the bishops and cardinals. “The heads of all Churches treat the laity as vote gatherers so that the former could amass personal wealth for their own families. These bishops and cardinals love luxury life and enjoy all good things in life. Many of them have their own children who grow up in hostels in hill stations and attend high-end public schools,” said Nandakumar.
Organizations like CASA (Christian Alliance for Social Action) are fringe outfits launched by extremist Christian youths and masquerading as friends of the BJP. Though they issued statements praising Prime Minister Modi, the CASA office bearers were cautious in their utterings against Islamic hotheads. Interestingly, nothing has been heard of CASA and other elements since the election schedule was announced by the Election Commission of India.
Munambam, a fishing hamlet along the Kochi coastline dominated by the Catholic community, is an ideal proof of the hypocrisy of the Christians. More than 600 families living in the village were on the verge of being thrown out by the Islamic extremists, who claimed that the land on which the Christians were staying belonged to the Waqf Board. No political outfits other than the BJP and Hindu organisations came out to extend support to the Christian families. Though many Christians in the area declared that they would stand with the BJP, not a single vote was cast by them for the Hindutva party in the Assembly election, while the majority of the Congress candidate ship up by leaps and bounds.
Prior to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Joseph Pamplany, an archbishop of the Catholic sect, went public with his offer that if the BJP government at the Centre could hike the rubber price to Rs.350 per kg, he would ensure that the party gets at least four seats from Kerala. Pamplany, known as the Casanova of Kerala, and his family reportedly own hectares of plantations where rubber is the main crop.[2]
More than the love and affection for the Congress, it is the hatred for Hindus among the Christians and Muslims that is reflected in the results of the 2026 Assembly elections.
This is Christian and Islamic secularism!
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
Reference:
[1] BJP’s PC George criticises bishops, says FCRA amendment bill will be passed – Mar 21, 2023, Deccan Herald
[2] Kerala: Christians Will Vote For BJP If Rubber Prices Are Increased Says Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Arch Bishop – Apr 10, 2026, Swarajya
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