Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calicut on Sunday said the Church has adopted an “equidistance” theory with regard to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the faithful would be urged to vote for candidates who can protect the country’s democracy, socialism, secularism, and integrity.
Varghese Chakkalakal, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calicut, said voters in Kerala are politically conscious and are capable of choosing good candidates.
He was replying to the media after senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and the party’s candidate in the Kozhikode constituency M.T. Ramesh visited him here on Easter.
After the brief visit, the bishop and the BJP leaders said it was a friendly meeting and no politics was involved.
“We adopt an issue-based and value-based equidistance theory. We tell voters (faithful) to exercise their franchise as per their conscience, to choose a good candidate who lives for the nation ,” said Mr. Chakkalakal.
The meeting of the BJP leaders with the bishop on Easter assumed political significance as the party was making all possible efforts to woo the minority community in the State ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The party’s State unit had even launched an outreach programme called Sneha Yatra recently, in which the BJP leaders and activists visited homes of Christians in Kerala on festival days and extended greetings.
