Kanyakumari: All eyes are on the final Sunday before polling in Kanyakumari, where church messaging has long shaped voting patterns in a district where Christians form 47% of the electorate.Traditionally, churches use the Sunday before polling to signal their preferences. This year, the pattern has shifted. With Joseph Vijay’s entry, Congress and DMK advanced their outreach. Roman Catholic churches, after drawing objections from TVK for openly backing candidates, have moved to more subtle cues. At a church in Vilavancode, a priest is reported to have urged voters to opt for change using the word ‘nambikkai’ (confidence). While saying this, he stressed the syllable ‘kai’, meaning hand, seen as an indirect appeal to vote for Congress.On April 12, a 14-year-old boy from a fishing village in Colachel went missing at sea, with Coast Guard searches failing. Two days later, TVK candidate Prem Lawrence brought divers from Tuticorin to recover the body, while Congress candidate Tharahai Cuthbert helped expedite the autopsy. A priest praising only Tarahai triggered protests from TVK cadres.In Killiyoor, for years, local forane backed Congress’ S Rajesh Kumar, but this time TVK fielded S Sabin from the fishermen community, who sought the support of the head priest. With both candidates putting pressure, the priest declined to endorse anyone and wished both well.Amid this, Tamil Maanila Congress candidate J Nivin Simon, part of NDA, used AIADMK links to approach the Trivandrum archdiocese, which oversees churches in the region. Going by the words ‘Tamil’ and ‘Congress’ in the party’s name, and unaware of its tie-up with BJP, the bishop granted him an audience. Images of the Bishop blessing a candidate contesting under the lotus symbol soon circulated on local WhatsApp groups. “By the time the diocese realised this, the information had spread. Even if it was only a WhatsApp image, Christian communities in rural areas take the bishop’s words very seriously,” said a priest.George Ponniah, parish priest of St Joseph’s Church in Padmanabhapuram, said, “All these years, churches had no confusion in backing Congress-DMK candidates and asked people not to support anti-secular forces. But with TVK in the fray now, there is no official announcement backing any party. Priests at the local level suggest what is best in their constituencies before elections.”CSI churches too continue with low-key messaging and whisper campaigns. “The present generation decide for themselves. They do not listen to religious leaders as much as before. They also understand how such leaders engage in politics,” said Ponniah.A TVK candidate said, “We also approached bishops here seeking support. But they were reluctant as priests under them are divided. At the top level, they have assured that there will be no open backing for any candidate.”In the Colachel-Nagercoil belt, tensions surfaced after anonymous pamphlets were circulated on social media in the name of churches, before being taken down.
