The Congress has sought to bridge the Jacobite-Orthodox Church divide that, it fears, could sunder its traditional Christian vote base in the Puthuppally Assembly constituency in the run-up to the byelection on September 5.
It seemed not lost on the Congress that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] candidate, Jaick C. Thomas, belongs to the Jacobite faction that has purportedly tilted Left, given the government’s “empathic stance” in the Church dispute.
United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Chandy Oommen, who belongs to the Orthodox faction, has reached out to both sections of the Church for support.
