BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday heads off to Kerala for a three-day tour, as part of his 110-day programme for organisational work, amid controversy over a recent Ministry of Environment notification banning the sale of cattle in animal markets for slaughter.
One of his first meetings on this trip would be a meeting with bishops in Kochi on Saturday to underline the BJP’s efforts to build bridges with the Christian community, which accounts for 18-20 per cent of votes in the State.
The party’s in charge of the State, H. Raja. said the meeting was aimed at “understanding each other” and added that Mr. Shah would undertake an “in-depth” analysis of the organisational work in the State during his visit.
Sources in the party said there were “many areas of commonality” between the BJP and the concerns of the Christian community.
‘Radicalisation a worry’
“Among the Kerala youth who recently ran away to join the Islamic State were two Christian youth who had converted to Islam. Therefore, radicalisation is a concern,” said a senior office-bearer.
Mr. Shah was also likely to flag the recent slaughter of a calf by Youth Congress workers, an issue which his party also expects to play up in the upcoming polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the sources said.
But it could be a tricky issue too as beef is widely consumed in Kerala and a strident stand on the matter is unlikely to be of much help, especially while it attempts to woo Christians.
Kerala is important in the BJP’s strategy for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Mr. Shah expects to win a chunk of its 21 seats after the party increased its vote share substantially to 16 per cent in the 2016 Assembly polls. It, however, could win only one seat.
It had drawn a blank in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Mr. Shah will end his tour of the State in Thiruvananthapuram on June 3.
