Congress leaders meet Christian clergy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Tariq Anwar, AICC Secretary Ivan D'Souza and Lok Sabha member Anto Antony met the Major Archbishop of Malankara Syrian Church, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, in Kerala to mollify the Christian community.

The AICC leadership, which is in Kerala to get a ground level report on the drubbing the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) received in the recent local body elections, is trying to meet all sections of people, including religious heads and social groups.

However, the immediate visit by the AICC leaders, including Tariq Anwar, holds significance as the mouthpiece of the Ernakulam Archdiocese "Satyadeepam" recently launched a scathing attack on the Congress party. It said the Congress and the UDF received a drubbing in Central Travancore - the party's stronghold, not due to the exit of Kerala Congress(Mani) from the UDF fold and joining the Left Democratic Front (LDF), but owing to the wrong policies it had taken vis-a-vis the Christian community. The mouthpiece said the Congress and the UDF faced a backlash from the Christian community owing to several factors, including the political stand taken by the Indian Union Muslim League, a major UDF constituent, in the Hagia Sophia Museum case. (IANS)

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