In the midst of a big political churning in Central Travancore with all main events making an attempt to surf the wave of rural anger, a brand new political outfit is rising in Kerala’s political scene forward of the Lok Sabha elections subsequent yr, ostensibly with the backing of just a few within the Catholic clergy.
The newly-formed party, named National Progressive Party, goals at resonating with the farming group of Central Travancore, which constitutes the core assist base of the 2 main Kerala Congress (KC) factions. The formation of the party takes a cue from the organisation of the Bharatiya Christian Sangamam in Kochi on September 17, 2022.
The formal announcement of the party’s formation and its political programme is scheduled to happen in Kochi on April 22. Several leaders from varied Kerala Congress factions, led by Johny Nellur, who presently serves because the deputy chairman of the Kerala Congress led by P.J. Joseph, are anticipated to be a part of the brand new outfit. The motion can also be learnt to benefit from the backing of a former bishop of the Syro-Malabar Church.
“Our primary focus will be to establish a connection with the dissatisfied farmers of Central Kerala, who have been experiencing a wave of distress for a prolonged period. In the fragmented political landscape of Kerala, we will serve as the voice of and for the countryside,” mentioned a senior politician who presently heads the challenge.
Key calls for
Some of the important thing calls for that the party intends to increase embrace setting a minimal assist value of ₹300 for pure rubber, exempting Kerala from buffer zone mapping, and compensating farmers for wildlife assaults.
Regarding the brand new outfit’s political orientation, its management claims that the party will be open to discussions with all main political coalitions. In the long term, nevertheless, it’s anticipated to collaborate carefully with the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP, which has intensified its efforts to woo the Christian group in Kerala and is trying for a accomplice to compensate for the exit of the KC faction led by P.C. Thomas.
Official sources added that the brand new party would match neatly right into a populist framework and search to leverage the important thing points raised by the Catholic Church in Kerala, equivalent to ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotics jihad,’ to its benefit. This technique has lately mobilised Christian teams within the State and has confirmed to be disruptive for the 2 main political coalitions in Kerala led by the CPI(M) and the Congress respectively.
