As we stroll through the Vavathurai and Kovalam coasts of Kanniyakumari, speaking to the fisherfolk as they prepare to set out to the sea, an anti-BJP sentiment seems palpable. “The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shouldn’t come to power again,” an elderly fisherman named Mariasusai tells us. “Many of us in this area are Christians, and for us to survive, the BJP shouldn’t be re-elected. Look at what happened in Manipur.”
