The controversy over the reported role of the Syro-Malabar Church in picking Jo Joseph as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate for the Thrikkakara byelection has turned murkier with leaders of various political parties joining the issue. The factional fight in the Church too has added fuel to the raging debate.
While Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan accused the LDF of misusing Church institutions for political reasons, CPI(M) leader and Industries Minister P. Rajeeve retorted that United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders were out to malign the Church.
Mr. Satheesan felt that conducting a press conference of the candidate, who was accompanied by Mr. Rajeev and M. Swaraj, in the conference hall of the hospital where the backdrop of the venue had the logo of the Church printed on it was an attempt to create the impression that the candidate was backed by the Church.
No UDF leader had alleged that the candidate was the choice of the Church. It was Mr. Rajeeve who dragged the Church into the issue. The CPI(M)‘s attempt to create the impression that Dr. Joseph was the Church’s choice would backfire, he said.
At the same time, Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and Dominic Presentation toed a different line on the issue, indicating that all was not well in the Congress camp.
Mr. Chennithala, who said he did not believe that the Church would pick the LDF candidate for the bypoll, also dismissed the allegations as the handiwork of some interest groups. Mr. Presentation stated that the Church need not be dragged into the issue as it never interfered in such issues. The allegations were wrong, he said.
Mr. Rajeeve urged the UDF to end its attempts to defame the Church and the hospital where the candidate was working. The statements of Mr. Chennithala and Mr. Presentation themselves exposed the allegations of the UDF.
The name of the LDF candidate was announced at Lenin Centre, the party district headquarters. The party leaders reached the hospital to convey the decision on the candidate selection. There was no harm in hospital director Paul Karedan greeting the candidate with a bouquet, he said.
Almaya Munnettam, a collective of lay people for accountability and transparency in Church administration, termed Dr. Joseph as the candidate of Cardinal Mar George Alanchery, Major Archbishop of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdioceses, and not that of the Church. The group also protested against the decision to allow the political press conference inside the hospital hall and the hospital director permitting the event.