‘Emotional response’: Kochi Mayor walks back on Latin Church backing claim

Kochi: Seeking to quell the controversy triggered by her statement that the Latin Catholic community’s backing had secured her mayorship in the Corporation, Kochi Mayor VK Minimol has clarified that her remarks were an “emotional response” and not intended to spark a row.

Explaining her stance hours after her speech, Minimol said that her party, the Congress, considered her seniority and merit, having won elections to the Corporation Council for four consecutive terms, as the primary criteria for her appointment.

“I have been personally visiting religious and community leaders to express my gratitude. The venue in question was attended by the Bishops and high-ranking clergy of the Latin Church. When I thanked them for inviting me despite not being a Christian, if I said something out of heightened emotion, it was merely a natural response. It was not intended to create a controversy,” Minimol said.

The clarification comes in the wake of a speech Minimol delivered at the inaugural ceremony of the Kerala Region Latin Catholic Council (KRLCC) General Assembly on Saturday morning. In the speech, she had implied that the Church’s “organisational strength” played a pivotal role in her selection.

“If I stand here today, it is because of a firm voice of the Latin community. My position as Kochi Mayor is proof that the community raised its voice for the community in this society... I know that all the Bishops spoke up for me. I express my gratitude to everyone,” she had said. 

The remarks were interpreted as an admission that communal clout, rather than political merit alone, influenced the Mayoral decision, prompting her to issue the latest clarification. Her statements were in direct contrast to Opposition Leader VD Satheesan's and Ernakulam DCC President Mohammed Shiyas’ statements denying any communal interference in the mayoral selection.

Reacting to Minimol’s speech, KPCC General Secretary Deepthi Mary Varghese, who was widely seen as a frontrunner for the mayoral post but got sidelined later, had said that the Congress leadership should investigate if such interventions happened.

Archbishop Varghese Chakkalakal, President of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) and the Kerala Region Latin Catholic Bishops' Council, who presided over the event, had also weighed in on the issue.

While downplaying the idea that the Church had “raised its voice” demandingly, he acknowledged that recommendations might have been made. “A recommendation might have been given because she is ‘our person’. Isn't that natural? It might have been done with the thought that a person from our community should rise. It cannot be said that this is wrong,” Chakkalakal had said earlier.