Kottayam: Two days after embarrassing his newfound allies by parroting a BJP propaganda claim regarding “love jihad”, Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said that he held the same opinion as the Left Democratic Front on the matter.
He said that the controversy was an attempt to divert attention from the development activities of the LDF government that was in fact the real issue of this election.
Participating in an election programme telecast on Manorama News on Sunday, Mani said that concerns about “love jihad” should be addressed, referring to a communally charged allegation that sought to put inter-faith marriages under a shadow of doubt.
The bogey raised by the BJP and its allies had found takers in some Catholic bishops without regard to the fact that repeated investigations had found no proof of the phenomenon. A spokesman of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council said that Mani’s statement was a productive response to the church’s demands. Fr Jacob G Palaykappilly said that the issue should not be reduced to a poll issue.
The Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church bishop Geevarghese Mor Coorilose said that “love jihad” was a figment of imagination. He said that such statements served no purpose other than polarising society at a time when victimised minorities had to stand together.
The BJP was quick to latch on to the LDF member’s statement. Union minister V Muraleedharan said that Mani was sharing the concerns of the Christian community which were already voiced by community leaders. BJP state president K Surendran said a member of the LDF had supported the issues raised by his party.
LDF leaders distanced themselves from Mani after the embarrassing statement. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran unequivocally denounced the statement. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that he was not aware of Mani’s statement while LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan said that he had no clue what Mani was talking about.
Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikutty said that raking up the issue was a sign of fear of failure in the election.