Kerala Marxists say Church defeated them

(October 28, 2010) Communist leaders in Kerala blame the Church for their loss in the southern Indian state’s recent civic elections. “We lost mainly because Christians used their communal card against us,” said A. Vijayaraghavan, a senior leader of the Marxist party after poll results were announced on October 27. Bhargavan, another senior Marxist leader, added the Church’s pastoral letter against communists led to the left front’s defeat. The state went to polls on Oct. 23 and 25 to elect its civic bodies. The Left Democratic Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), lost in 520 of the 978 village councils. It secured only 18 of the 59 municipal councils and 52 of the 152 block councils. The Left Front had previously swept the polls in 2005. Father Stephen Alathara, spokesperson of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council said the communists suffered a “humiliating defeat” because of their opposition to the Church. “They had taken the Church and its leaders very lightly. They had boasted the Church could not influence its voters. But results have proved otherwise,” the priest said, adding that the left front suffered greatly where Christians have decisive majority. However, Father Paul Thelakat, spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church, said communists lost mainly because of people’s displeasure over corruption and inefficient rule. Jay Shankar, a lawyer and political analyst, also attributes the communist defeat to bad governance. He also said the Left Front had made a “tactical blunder” by alienating the Church.