The Waqf Amendment Bill, which has been passed in parliament and approved by President Droupadi Murmu, has brought significant changes to the Kerala political landscape. This has started with the joining of 50 Christians to the BJP. The impact of the new law which will now be known as “Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development,” on the political front is being seen more in Kerala than in other states of the country. The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) had indicated a major political shift in its political allegiance by supporting the Waqf Amendment Bill. Kerala Assembly elections are scheduled next year in 2026 along with Tamil Nadu, Assam ,West Bengal, and Puducherry.
The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council is a permanent organisation of Catholic bishops in Kerala. It is an organisation of the Roman/Latin, Syro Malabar and Syro Malankara of the Catholic Church. Till now, Christians and Muslims were considered the base vote of the Congress Party-led UDF in Kerala. The Congress Party retained power in Kerala and performed satisfactorily in Lok Sabha elections by getting the Christians votes on its own and getting Muslim votes due to its long-time alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League. According to the 2011 census, Kerala had a Christian population of more than 61 lakh, which was 18.4 percent of the total population. As per the 2011 census, Kerala had a population of about 37.5 lakh of Roman/Latin, Syro Malabar and Syro Malankara.
The organisation’s open support to the Waqf Amendment Bill of the Union Government was a big news not only for Kerala but also for many other States including Meghalaya, Goa and others which have considerable Christian population. This organisation has also openly opposed the Congress Party and its allies by supporting the Waqf Amendment Bill of the Central Government.
The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) had written a letter to all the MPs of Kerala urging them to support the proposed Waqf Amendment Bill. The fear of the residents of Munambam village has ended with the passing of the Bill. About 600 Christian and Hindu families always remained in feat till the passing of the Bill from Parliament that their village Munambam will be claimed by the Waqf despite being settled in the village for generations. The residents of the village always feared that they might have to be evicted from their paternal 404 acres of land when the Kerala State Waqf Board claimed their land.
This move of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council seems to be the last nail in the coffin for the Congress Party in Kerala politics. The Congress party by forging alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League and forming the United Democratic Front with some other small parties, does politics in Kerala with the help of Christian and Muslim votes. But after opposing the Waqf Amendment Bill the Congress party had lost its traditional voter constituency. While on the other hand the BJP is now inching to get wholehearted support of the Christian community. This is the biggest news from Kerala politics after passing of the Bill.
The BJP has slowly and steadily gained ground in Kerala politics in the last decade. The BJP won, opened its account by winning Thrissur Lok Sabha seat from Kerala. This is the first time when the BJP won any Lok Sabha seat from the State. The BJP won Nemom Assembly seat in Kerala. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP established lead on 9 Assembly seats and was second on 11 Assembly seats. Overall, the BJP was in direct contest on 20 Assembly seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Now, after getting the support of the Christian community, the BJP will fight for power in the upcoming 2026 Assembly elections by giving a direct fight to the ruling CPI (M) led Left Democratic Front in Kerala.
The Congress party may become only a marginal player in Kerala politics like in many States. After 2014 the BJP had given surprising results at all levels of election across the country. The BJP came to power in Tripura in 2018 by uprooting the CPI (M) led government despite the fact that in the previous Assembly the party had no representation. In 2013 Assembly election the BJP was able to save its deposit on single seat. Though in 2018 Assembly elections the BJP was successful in forming the government on its own by winning 36 seats in Tripura. The BJP, which had just 4 seats in Haryana, managed to form a government with a clear majority by winning 47 seats in 2014. The BJP, which had just 5 seats in Assam, managed to form a government with a clear majority with its allies by winning 60 seats in 2016. In West Bengal the BJP got 77 seats in 2021 while in the previous Assembly the party has only 3 MLAs. The BJP seems to be moving ahead in Kerala politics in the similar way.
There has been a lot of change in Kerala politics in the last decade. The Congress party is losing its foothold in Kerala politics day by day, which is helping the BJP a lot in gaining its ground. From 1982 to 2016, every election in Kerala saw a change of power between the Congress Party-led United Democratic Front and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front. But in 2021, for the first time since 1982, the Congress Party-led UDF could not return to power. This political event happened when the Gandhi family was represented from Kerala for the first time. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi contested from Wayanad in Kerala apart from Amethi.
It is speculated that there is nexus between the Gandhi family and Kerala Chief Minister P Vijayan’s family to promote their dynasties in politics. As per the secret understanding the Congress Party will help Vijayan in retaining power in State by not contesting Assembly poll seriously while the CPI (M)-led LDF will in turn help the Gandhi family and the Congress Party winning the Lok Sabha seat of Wayanad by contesting non-seriously. In the last three LS elections on Wayanad the LDF contested the seat on for sake of contesting the seat. In other words, the LDF was not contesting to win Wayanad seat. Besides intentionally the Congress party seems to not putting any serious challenge as the main Opposition party in Kerala Assembly and in State politics. The Congress party is playing politics to occupy the role of its Opposition to help Vijayan in State politics.
