Chandy, Chennithala prolong ‘olive branch’ to Christian group

Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition chief Ramesh Chennithala and senior Congress chief Oommen Chandy have initiated steps to woo the Christian group again to the UDF fold and likewise to finish the standoff between the rival Jacobite and Orthodox factions of the Malankara Church. Though that is being undertaken on the behest of the KPCC management, the duo needs to do it away from the glare of media. 

The two leaders had been on Friday huddled with Latin Archbishop of Thiruvananthapuram M Soosapakiyam on the Bishop’s House in Vellayambalam. A supply on the Bishop’s House confirmed to TNIE that each Chennithala and Oommen Chandy held parleys with Soosapakiyam. On New Year eve, the 2 senior Congressmen had been closeted with Cardinal Baselios Cleemis of Syro-Malankara Catholic Church on the Archbishop’s House at Pattom. 

With slightly below two months left for notification to be issued for meeting elections, they’re searching for the assist of the Christian communities. It is believed that the Catholic Church gave them a bit of its thoughts on what had alienated them  from the UDF within the civic physique elections. The UDF camp was feeling the warmth since they had been satisfied that the standard Christian vote financial institution had ditched them. With the AICC additionally taking an energetic function in patching up with the assorted Christian missions within the state after it was inundated by requests from state Congress leaders to increase an ‘olive branch’ to the Christian communities. 

At the KPCC assembly held at Indira Bhavan within the presence of Tariq Anwar, AICC common secretary in-charge of the state,  common secretary Jaison Joseph had voiced concern in regards to the CPM and the BJP deriving ‘political mileage’ out of the church row whereas leaving the UDF out within the chilly. KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran has taken the road that senior leaders ‘ alone should address the Church row going back several decades’ because of its delicate nature.

“The CPM and BJP’s agenda is to get the warring factions to maintain a status quo so that the votes get split. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Mizoram Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai are trying to cash in on the situation by putting on the garb of intermediaries. But  their concerns are not genuine,” a KPCC office-bearer informed TNIE.But neither Chandy nor Chennithala is eager to substantiate that they are going to be holding talks with Christian bishops, together with the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church head Baselios Marthoma Paulose II and the Metropolitan trustee of Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, Bishop Joseph Mar Gregorios. 

Chandy informed TNIE that solely when the 2 factions agree to sit down collectively can the Congress leaders dealer mediatory talks and at the moment the ball is within the authorities’s court docket. However, Chennithala informed TNIE that they’re adopting a ‘wait and watch policy’ as at the moment solely the federal government can take up the difficulty. It is  learnt that the duo is in search of a ‘favourable formula’ to deliver the clergy to the negotiating desk for locating an amicable resolution to the vexatious situation.