Pathanamthitta : As Kerala heads to poll in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 26, the Believers Church in Pathanamthitta constituency on Monday extended support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Anil Antony.
This is the first time that a church body has publicly supported a BJP candidate. Antony attended a meeting organised by the Believers Eastern Church in Thiruvalla on Monday which was attended by over 100 priests. The Metropolitan of Kerala, Mar Silvanious, and the Church PRO Rev.
Father Sijo Panthapallil attended the meeting, where the church supported Anil Antony's candidature as Lok Sabha representative from Pathanamthitta.
The Believers Church has also assured its support to Rajiv Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram. The Believers Church is said to wield influence in the constituency with about 10,000 families attached to the church. The Church also runs microfinance institutions that support several families.
Pathanamthitta has one of the most high-profile fights in this election. Anil Antony is up against sitting MP Anto Antony of the Congress and veteran CPM leader and former state finance minister Thomas Issac.
Anil Antony is the son of veteran Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister AK Antony. AK Antony however has not endorsed his son's candidature and publicly spoke in favour of Congress' Anto Antony.
Anil Antony joined the BJP in April last year after quitting the Congress party. Anil had served as digital media convenor of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and national coordinator of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
All 20 constituencies in Kerala go to the polls on April 26 in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, while the Congress party had won 15 seats, its allies, the Indian Union Muslim League, won two seats, the Revolutionary Socialist Party won one, and the Kerala Congress (M) won one seat. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won one seat in Alappuzha.