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By Dinesh Narayanan: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Easter outreach to the Christian community and the meeting with Kerala bishops can be seen as a calculated political initiative on his own terms, but the train was a shrewd chess move. In a state that depends heavily on remittances, it also tugged at a deeper emotion wrapped in nostalgia. No gift gladdens the Keralite heart like a new railway rake. Before the coveted Gulf visa, trains were literally the lifeline for skilled and semi-skilled Malayali youth who fled their impoverished state seeking uplift in the sweaty metropolises of Bombay and Delhi in the 1960s and 70s.
The railroad story
Kerala felt slighted year after year when its requests for more rail connectivity were ignored by Delhi. Last year, a prominent Malayalam daily wrote a scathing editorial on the Railways’ step-motherly treatment of Kerala despite its citizens contributing heavily to the transporter’s coffers. It said the only period it received any consideration was when Kerala BJP leader O Rajagopal held the portfolio as junior minister in the third AB Vajpayee government. So when Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived with a shiny new train, he soothed a nerve that was raw until three weeks ago.
Also Read | PM Modi flags off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat train from Thiruvananthapuram
Made with Spanish help, the Vande Bharat (VB) semi-high speed trains are a coveted solution for long-distance mobility. Although Kerala has been asking for VB trains, Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told Parliament three weeks ago that the service was not under consideration for the state for the time being. Modi evidently had other plans.
Within hours of his southern tour being finalised, a new VB rake was picked out at the Integral Coach Factory Chennai and shunted to Thiruvananthapuram for the PM to flag off. Sure enough, it created the desired buzz. The arrival of the train was greeted with a public frenzy unseen for any recent events. And the PM’s visit dominated state media for several days.
The VB Express is expected to cover the 586 kilometres between the state capital Thiruvananthapuram in the south and the northern border of Kasargod in eight hours, three less than the current run time for other trains. Modi has promised to bring it down to under six hours in 18 months by optimising tracks. He also unveiled a Rs 1500 crore Digital Science Park, the country’s first such centre focussed on innovation.
In one fell swoop, the prime minister not only reprised his vikas purush persona, but also checkmated chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s government, which was pursuing its own high-speed rail link. Silver Line, as the project is called, was supposed to be the CPI(M) government’s flagship infrastructure programme but it was mired in controversy and had also become a bone of contention with the Centre soft-pedalling it. With VB claiming a similar runtime as Silver Line, the project loses its sheen and relevance.
Also Read | Girl recites Malayalam poem for PM Modi on board Vande Bharat Express. Watch video
Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
For years, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party’s political strategy in Kerala has been predictable and unimaginative. Its leadership could never match up to rivals’ tactics or charisma. The national party managed to increase its vote share by aligning with the Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena, a local outfit dominated by the Ezhava community and controlled by the father-son duo of Vellapilly Natesan and Tushar Vellapilly. The alliance hardly made a dent in the elections to the assembly or Parliament.
The Hindu vote, which is the BJP’s core constituency across the country, remains split between the Congress and the CPI(M) in Kerala. While the upper caste Nair community largely supports the Congress Party, the OBC Ezhavas back the CPI(M). The Muslim vote is divided between the Congress in central and southern Kerala and the Muslim League in the north. Christian voters in the central districts overwhelmingly chose the Kerala Congress (of which there are many factions) and the alliance parties. Kerala Congress is now only a shadow of its once dominant self in the central districts of the state.
Although the BJP has parleyed with the clergy in Kerala in the past too, it was unsuccessful in swinging voters. That is because the promises have been vague and made directly to the various churches. Ahead of the 2019 elections, the tourism ministry headed by Alphons Kannanthanam handed out cash doles under a promotional scheme to renovate churches in Kerala. While Christian voters saw it as cynical and transactional, Hindu voters saw it as appeasement.
The Syro Malabar Catholic Church means business even now. Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany said if the centre could buy rubber at a floor price of Rs 300 per kg, the BJP could win a parliamentarian from the state.
Also Read | Posters of Congress MP pasted on Kerala’s Vande Bharat Express as it reaches Shoranur
At Yuvam 2023, the BJP’s youth conclave, sharing the dais with Modi, was the latest entrant into the party, Anil Antony, former Congressman and son of CWC member AK Antony. Others on stage were popular film stars and musicians such as Unni Mukundan, Vijay Yesudas, Aparna Balamurali and Stephen Devassy. Modi was introduced as the architect of modern India and a youth icon. While taking a dig at the other parties, the PM held out the promise of economic prosperity for youth. That is a message that can resonate, especially at a time when life in the highly polarised US and Europe is becoming difficult and the Gulf states are shunning foreign workers.
A large number of landed Christian families do not have the young generation living in Kerala. Neither are they investing in the state. It has led to a kind of stagnation in the community even as its political power erodes. The possibility of youth living abroad returning to their native state is a tantalising possibility if Kerala becomes conducive to business.
The Muslim factor
While the Sangh Parivar has always been antagonistic to Muslims, Christians and Communists, Kerala’s Christians also are at loggerheads with the rising economic and political might of the Muslim community. That the ruling CPI(M) is actively wooing it adds to the concern and opens up the possibility of a new political alignment that was unthinkable even a couple of years ago.
The discontent, which began when a college professor’s hand was chopped off by alleged PFI activists in Thodupuzha in 2010, reached its zenith 10 years later when Turkey converted the Hagia Sophia museum, originally built as an Orthodox Church, into a mosque. It led to Catholic and Muslim leaders in Kerala exchanging sharp words. The Syro Malabar Church has publicly stated that “love jihad” – popularly seen as Muslim youth marrying girls from other communities to ‘convert’ them – is a reality and Christian girls were targets. The NIA’s crackdown on PFI and associates last year helped build a favourable image for Modi.
That sets the stage for a 2014 redux in 2024 when Modi’s narrative focused on economic growth and development will go to work on voters in tandem with party minions’ efforts to widen the cleavages in the social fabric.
(Dinesh Narayanan is co-founder and editor of The Signal and author of The RSS and the making of the deep nation.)
Also Read | PM Modi announces Kerala’s first Vande Bharat express at Kochi roadshow
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