BLANK CHECK

Several factors favour an increase in the BJP’s vote share in Kerala, but whether the party can win a seat remains uncertain

- NIRMAL JOVIAL

Coastal erosion has left Pozhiyoor, a village in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district, battered. The relentless assault of the sea over the years has ruined houses and neighbourhoods. Rosamma, 65, fears that the waves will devour her home in the next round of devastation. Once there was a kilometre of sandy beach between her home and the sea; now only 20 metres remain. The waves give her sleepless nights.

Politicians, she says, have long abandoned promises to build a groyne that could curb erosion. “Why should we vote in this election? When will we have a normal life?” she asks.

Disillusionment envelopes the neighbourhood as well. “We will boycott polls until a groyne is built on an emergency basis to protect the coast,” says a billboard erected by the civil society group Pozhiyoor Janakeeya Samithi.

The Catholic Church, which has considerable clout in the coastal belt, says it is not part of the boycott campaign. Vicar General Eugine H. Pereira, however, hinted that there has been a change in the church’s outlook on the Lok Sabha polls. “The church adopted an issue-based, value-based equidistant stance in 2004,” he told THE WEEK. “We now embrace a ‘right-distance’ stance, favouring candidates who understand and address the community’s concerns.”