When church shares a saffron stage

It is a small step forward and may not impact the re sults of this assembly polls in a big way. But this green movement may pave way for a `third wave', wherein various stakeholders nominate a leader who does not belong to any party but will support a cause that stands for sustainable development. The Indian Farmers' Movement (Infam), a farmer's organization constituted with the blessings of the Catholic church, is trying out a novel democratic experiment by supporting former additional chief secretary P C Cyriac who is contesting from Kothamangalam as an independent candidate.

Interestingly, Infam is supporting Cyriac in spite of the fact that NDA is backing him, breaking the stereotype notion that the average Christian in Kerala would only vote for Kerala Congress or Congress in the central Travancore belt. On Friday, Infam supporters shared the dais with Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union minister of state skill development and entrepreneurship, who said that people from all sections should come together for the development of the state.

Cyriac is upbeat about his new avatar and says he has come into the political arena without any `baggage.' “I have been with Infam for the past eight years. The charitable organisation that began as support system for rubber farmers has now branched into other areas like marketing rice, jackfruits and spices. The problem in Kerala is that we have been overlooking many basic issues like waste management, water conservation, providing clean drinking water and market price to medium size farm holdings,'' he says elaborating his plans for the constituency .

Infam supporters point out that Kothamangalam was where rubber farming began two centuries ago but the dipping price of the cash crop is now a matter of great concern here. Infam national trustee M C George said that bishops and the clergy depend too much on parties like Kerala Congress and Congress. “They have rarely shown willingness to explore newer options. We do not see BJP as a communal party. When Infam faced a problem in the past, we approached O Rajagopal who was minister in the NDA gover nment then. He solved our problem. It is high time we looked at parties differently and approached them without prejudices,“ says George.