4 Christian priests join BJP's Kerala unit

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>[bJP News] Four Christian priests join BJP's Kerala unit

>Thu, 19 Feb 2004 08:39:32 -0800 (PST)

>

>Four Christian priests join BJP's Kerala unit

>Rediff.com

>George Iype in Kochi | February 19, 2004 14:49 IST

>

>

>The Bharatiya Janata Party's Kerala unit has announced that four Christian

>priests are joining it.

>

>"This proves that the BJP is a party for all Indians, irrespective of

>whether they are Hindus, Muslims or Christians," BJP state president P S

>Sreedharan Pillai told rediff.com

>

>Senior BJP leaders will come down when Abraham Thomas, Thomas David, J J

>Kochuparambil and K Christy John join the party sometime next week.

>

>Abraham Thomas and Thomas David belong to the Church of South India;

>Kochuparambil manages the Anglican Church at Kurichi village in Kottayam

>district; and John is a pastor in the Pentecostal Church.

>

>Abraham Thomas said working for the BJP would be "another kind of

>vocation" for him. "I like the BJP as a political party and the way the

>party is governing India. I am joining the BJP to prove that the party is

>not anti-minority," he told rediff.com

>

>Abraham Thomas, who became a priest after 20 years of service in the

>Indian Air Force, said he would try to change the perception of Christians

>about the BJP.

>

>"India is indeed shining these days because of the Vajpayee government,"

>Thomas David said. "I am joining the BJP because I am convinced that only

>a BJP-led government can sustain this progress and development."

>

>The two priests have asked permission from church authorities to join the

>BJP. "I am sure my church would not deny permission to myself getting a

>BJP membership," Abraham Thomas added.

>

>It is not the first time that Kerala priests have joined political

>outfits. In 2001, the late priest Mathai Nooranal of the Malankara

>Orthodox Church contested the assembly election from the Sulthan Bathery

>constituency in Wayanad district.

>

>

>Nooranal, who was supported by the Communist Party of India, Marxists,

>lost.

>

 

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