Kerala is also one of the states where assembly elections are to be held this year. The same Kerala where there is a Left coalition government for the last 10 years and Congress is making full efforts for its comeback. Recently, after making its own Mayor in Thiruvananthapuram, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is full of enthusiasm, is also claiming that after the Mayor, it will be successful in making its own Chief Minister also. Kerala is one of those states in the country where BJP has never been able to form a government till now. This election has become an election of prestige for the Congress which is entering the field with new leadership after AK Antony and Oman Chandy because first Rahul Gandhi and now Priyanka Gandhi are MPs from Wayanad seat of this state.
Kerala, with 14 districts, 20 Lok Sabha seats and 140 assembly seats, is counted among the leading states on many parameters. Along with Hindus and Muslims, there is also a sizeable Christian population in Kerala, which is why for the last several years, Hindutva parties like BJP have also been trying to connect with the church. Let us understand in detail what is the equation of caste and religion in Kerala.
Understand the population of Kerala
According to the 2011 census, 54.7 percent of the population in Kerala is Hindu, 26.6 percent is Muslim and 18.4 percent is Christian. People of other religions are only 0.33 percent. There were 2.77 crore voters in Kerala in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, out of which 1.99 crore people had also cast their votes. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had won 18 of the total 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.
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In the recently held civic elections also, UDF won unilaterally and created panic in the camp of the ruling Left. In such a situation, discussion has started on different equations. BJP, which is famous for doing different levels of social engineering across the country, is also busy in connecting Christians and different caste groups with itself in Kerala. This is the reason why caste politics has intensified in Kerala in the last decade and now left parties have also started trying to woo leaders on the basis of caste.
What is the caste equation of Kerala?
According to the 2011 census, about 9.10 percent of the population in Kerala belongs to the Scheduled Castes and 1.4 percent to the Scheduled Tribes. In Kerala, the upper caste Hindu caste Nair population is about 14 percent, Ezhava (Hindu OBC) population is about 23 percent. The Christian population in Kerala is 18.4 percent. These castes have their own big social organizations in Kerala. For example, the Ezhava organization is Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP), headed by Vellappalli Natesan, and the Nairs have the Nair Service Society, headed by G. Sukumaran Nair. The political wing of SNDP is named Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS). Natesan’s son is its leader and this party is part of NDA. Similarly, there is the Latin Catholic Church which is also considered an organization of Christians.
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The influence of these organizations is so much that even the Left, which once stayed away from caste and religion politics, is no longer avoiding it these days. Due to the closeness of Pinarayi Vijayan to SNDP’s Natesan, sourness has also arisen between CPI and CPM. CPI wants to distance itself from a leader like Natesan because he has often made statements against Muslims. At the same time, Natesan has announced that he will work to make Pinarayi Vijayan the Chief Minister again.
Traditionally the Ezhavas have been supporters of the Left and the Nairs have been with the Congress. However, BJP, which has made a new entry in Kerala, has its eyes on both Ezhavas and Nairs and has also worked towards wooing both of them. Apart from this, BJP is also trying hard to bring Christians along with it and woo Dalits.
If we understand castes in terms of leaders, then the current Chief Minister of Kerala is Pinarayi Vijayan Ezhava, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is Nair, former Chief Minister AK Antony is Christian, senior Congress leader KC Venugopal is Nair, Congress’ VD Satheesan is Nair, BJP leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar is also a Nair, BJP MP Suresh Gopi is also a Nair.
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