That the ties between the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Congress had taken a nosedive in recent times is known to almost everyone for sometime now, though Congress leaders were not ready to admit it. Now, proof of the strained relations between the two is available aplenty.

The souring of ties between the Church, which has traditionally backed the Congress and the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), and the principal ruling party became evident when Forests and Transport Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan was snubbed by the head of the Church Catholicos of the East Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II at a public function at Pallom, near Kottayam town, on Friday. The occasion was a function held to felicitate a newly ordained deacon of the Orthodox Church. The young priest happened to be the son of Mr. Radhakrishnan’s close friend. The Catholicos was addressing the meeting when the Minister arrived for the public function, organised within the church. Seeing Mr. Radhakrishnan, the pontiff said the Orthodox Church had taken a decision not to invite Ministers of the UDF Cabinet to any of its programmes.

“I don’t know who invited Radhakrishnan to this programme,” he said, quickly making it clear that the Church had nothing personal against the Minister. “This is a policy stance we had taken, though we have not made it public,” he said.As soon as the Catholicos concluded his speech, a clearly embarrassed Mr. Radhakrishnan muttered a few words to express his gratitude for the invitation and extended his blessings to the young priest, and left in a huff.

The Orthodox Church has been engaged in a feud with the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, which owes its allegiance to the Patriarch of Antioch, resulting in fierce legal battles. It has often voiced the grievance that the government is not extending sufficient support to its efforts to get court orders in its favour implemented.

The Orthodox Church had recently initiated talks with the Patriarch himself. Catholicos Paulose II had recently termed his historic meeting with Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch as an ice-breaking moment in the recent history of the Malankara Church. The two Churches might be warming up to each other, but the Orthodox Church appears to be in no mood to do so towards the Congress.

All eyes are on the weekly Cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday as it has to take the all-important call on the sole bid to build the port superstructure and operate the Vizhinjam international multi-purpose seaport. The Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary and the director board of the Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL), the special purpose vehicle headed by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, have recommended acceptance of the sole bid submitted by the Ahamedabad-based Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) Ltd. But, the Cabinet is on a sticky wicket here as the Opposition is up in arms against the proposal.

The proposal is to execute the UDF government’s ‘Mission 676’ project on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode with the Adanis as the port operator. Given the scale of the project and the political dividends that would accrue to the ruling alliance if work on the project could commence in an election year, the Chief Minister and the UDF leadership are keen to set the ball rolling. They do not also wish to delay a decision on the prestigious project any further as the notification for the Aruvikkara Assembly byelection would come any time.

The Chief Minister has been batting for the project quite vociferously, but the Opposition is equally determined to resist any attempt to award the contract to the Adanis. The project, they allege, would end up as nothing but a huge real estate scam. The Cabinet would have before it a 41-page report from the Empowered Committee and reports from the Law and Stores Purchase Departments to base its decision. Even if it decides to take the plunge, it would still have a difficult time convincing the Opposition, which has shown signs of coming together in its opposition to the single bidder route that the government has taken. It is clear that Kerala would see waves of allegations and counter-allegations lashing the State’s political shores before Vizhinjam port becomes a reality.

(With inputs from George Jacob in Kottayam and S. Anil Radhakrishnan in Thiruvananthapuram)

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