Why George Kurian is critical to BJP's grand Kerala design

Kurian's appointment is seen as recognition by Prime Minister Modi and the BJP top leadership of his four-decades-long quiet work with missionary zeal to raise the party's stock in Kerala. It seems Kurian himself had been thrown a surprise.

"I had no prior intimation about being made a minister. I had gone to New Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony. A senior leader in the BJP there directed me to meet the party second-in-command. During that interaction, I was praised as an 'organic party worker' and further asked to visit the prime minister. The rest, as they say, is history," says Kurian. INDIA TODAY recently caught up with him at the government guesthouse in Ernakulam.

Away from the crowds and dressed very informally (in a lungi), Kurian had no ministerial air as he sat down for breakfast, watching the Arabian Sea from the seventh floor of the guesthouse. "I've shunned halo all my life. My father taught me to remain simple, and my political guru O. Rajagopal and other mentors across party lines always guided me to remain connected with the people. It's with this strength that I follow the BJP in true spirit," says the minister.

Kurian joined the BJP at the time of the party's formation in 1980. In his college says, he would have been the first Christian youth to adhere to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology. This was at a time when Kerala offered little political and intellectual space to the Sangh Parivar and its idea of 'Hindu rashtra'.

"I'm a practising Christian; at the same time, I think the BJP's ideological stand is more spiritual and not directed against any religion or the minorities. The BJP respects all religions more than other political parties. I've declared my religious base openly and my leaders have always respected my spirituality and political standing," says Kurian.

In his long journey in the BJP, Kurian has also served as vice-chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities and been officer on special duty to Rajagopal while he was minister of state for railways in the A.B. Vajpayee government (1999-2004). Kurian doesn't give much importance to all this. "I lead a simple life and have never aspired for a post," he says.

Kurian's old friends in Kottayam still call him 'Sarkar'. He recalls how the nickname came upon him. "As a student at the government college in Kottayam, I would always talk about my dream of the BJP forming a government at the Centre. Fed up with my narrations, my friends nicknamed me 'Sarkar', and it soon went viral. Even teachers started calling me by that name. Now, after the oath-taking, one of my closest friends messaged me that the old Sarkar had become a part of 'mega Sarkar'," he says.

Behind Kurian's elevation to the Union cabinet is also the BJP leadership's mega assembly election plan in Kerala. His Catholic background will be used by the party to reach out to the 19 per cent Christian population in the state. The Christian vote is thought to have decisively helped the BJP open its Lok Sabha account in the state, with Suresh Gopi winning the Thrissur seat by over 74,000 votes.

In his long political career, Kurian has worked hard to bridge the gap between the BJP and Christians. With steady progress, it seems. Kurian's proximity to church leaders not only helped the BJP carve out the victory in Thrissur but also draw support in the Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Idukki constituencies. "But my approach has been different. I've never eyed winning over the minorities or their leaders. I just listened to them and explained my party's stand on all issues concerning the minorities. I'm not sure whether they understood my arguments, but I have always defended my party on all crucial matters and never shied away from political debates," Kurian points out.

Kurian will certainly have a role to play in the BJP's grand design for the assembly polls. With Kerala's Hindu vote fragmented, a consolidated support from the Christian minorities may hold the key. Central leaders of the party believe that once the Syrian Catholics and Mar Thoma Church align with the saffron fold, other Christian groups would follow suit. They will be looking to Kurian to make it possible.

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