Amidst reports of the BJP and RSS trying to make inroads into the Christian vote banks of Kerala, heads of the prominent Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala called on RSS leaders in Kochi on Wednesday.
Several rounds of discussions have already taken place over the last few months in Kerala between BJP-RSS leaders and heads of various prominent churches. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in one such discussion.
BJP state President K Surendran and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr Ashwath Narayan called on Syro-Malabar Church Cardinal George Alencherry in Kochi recently.
Metropolitans Geevarghese Mar Yulios and Yakob Mar Irenios of the Orthodox faction of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and metropolitan Joseph Mar Gregorious of the Jacobite faction called on RSS leaders including joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya in Kochi on Wednesday separately.
The focus of the talks was the power tussle between the Orthodox and Jacobite factions over control over churches. The Orthodox faction is unhappy with the Kerala government over its failure to enforce the Supreme Court order to hand over control of over 1,000 churches which are now with the Jacobite faction. The Jacobite faction is unhappy that the government is not trying to protect its interests.
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