THRISSUR: The Thrissur Archdiocese or Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council has not asked anyone to vote for a particular party or individual, Thrissur Archbishop Andrews Thazhath has said. After casting his vote at St. Clare's Convent School Thrissur near Bishop House in Thrissur on the Monday, the Archbishop said that the laity was told to elect those who could bring good prosperity to the society and nothing else.
Thazhath's response came in the wake of pamphlets distributed among members of Catholic Congress, family units and Kerala Catholic Youth Movement in some of the parishes under the Thrissur diocese prior to elections on Sunday.
The pamphlets, without taking a particular political stand, tells the Catholic voters that if they waste their votes by going for picnic on the voting day without casting them, there would be tough times ahead. The pamphlet also asks the laity to take into consideration the move in the political sphere to sideline minorities while they cast vote.
During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, after the defeat of K.P. Dhanapalan of Congress in Thrissur constituency, the archbishop had written to Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi sharing his concerns about the Catholic Church being sidelined and the defeat in Thrissur would hopefully a lesson for the party.
But the Catholic Church had given complete support to the new liquor policy of UDF government. The role of Catholic Church would be considered a major factor if Congress candidates win in segments like Thrissur and Ollur, where there are considerable amount of catholic voters.
