Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has launched a damage control exercise by holding a series of discussions with Catholic Church leaders on the changes made in the United Democratic Front (UDF) government’s liquor policy.
With the Madya Virudha Samithi of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) launching a vehement campaign against the amended liquor policy, the Chief Minister himself took the initiative to mend relations with the Catholic Church, which has been one of the steadfast supporters of the UDF, except in certain unique circumstances.
The UDF government’s reactions to the Samithi’s campaign have been two-pronged. Mr. Chandy fielded one of his most trusted lieutenants, Rural Development Minister K.C. Joseph, the sole Congress representative in his Cabinet representing the Catholic community, to respond to the KCBC panel leaders. Apart from being a trusted aide, Mr. Joseph has been a hard campaigner in his own right against the proliferation of liquor.
It is significant that his hard stand against liquor comes from not his being a Catholic, but because of his Gandhian moorings.
Viewed from this angle, Mr. Joseph was the apt person for Mr. Chandy to respond to the committee leaders, who have not hesitated to use harsh words against the Congress, mainly on television debates while criticising the government’s liquor policy. On his part, Mr. Joseph did not mince words while responding to the criticisms of the members of the committee, with its own impact. The Congress leaders also bent a bit backwards to explain that the KCBC and its anti-liquor committee were two different entities.
The Chief Minister, who has to face the major responsibility of running the government smoothly, obviously has embarked on mending ties with the Church as the government could not afford opposition to the amended version of his liquor policy.
