A section of the Congress in Kerala has come out in defence of the Church against the backdrop of the ruling CPM inviting charges of playing the communal card by fielding a Christian doctor for a bypoll over its cadres.

The CPM has picked cardiologist Jo Joseph as its candidate for the May 31 Thrikkakara Assembly bypoll at a time many were expecting a full-time party worker to take on Uma Thomas, the Congress nominee. Uma is the widow of P.T. Thomas, the Congress veteran whose death has necessitated the by-election.

Many in the Opposition have accused the CPM of picking a “Church candidate” to appease Christians, who have considerable presence in the constituency.

After the CPM’s vehement denial of any such intention, Congress lawmaker and former leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala accused “vested interests” of dragging the Church into politics, in an apparent attempt to distance his party from the voices within that have been pointing fingers the clergy of the influential community.

“We don’t believe that they (the Church) will exert any influence in the selection of a party candidate. That’s basically propaganda carried out by vested interests,” Chennithala told reporters on Saturday. He did not spell out who these vested interests were.

Senior Congress leader and former minister Dominic Presentation echoed similar views and said the Church never involved itself in political matters. He alleged that the BJP had sparked the controversy.

“BJP leaders have made this accusation, not us. The Church never intervenes in politics,” Presentation told reporters in Ernakulam, where the poll-bound constituency is located.

The clarification from Congress bigwigs followed a statement from the Syro-Malabar Church denying any involvement in the selection of Joseph.

“We wish to clarify that there is no truth in this propaganda deliberately unleashed by some vested interests. Alliances choose candidates as per their political stand,” the Church said.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan was among the Congress leaders who had accused the CPM of playing the communal card to appease the sizable Christian electorate in the constituency.

“Anyone with common sense would understand what external influence led to the selection of this candidate. It will be very clear who gave them (the CPM) this candidate once you examine his (Joseph’s) family background,” he had said on Friday, alluding to the Catholic Church the doctor and his family belonged to.

But Satheesan appeared to have softened his position on Saturday. “He (Joseph) was the one who said he was not a Church candidate…. We didn’t say anything,” the Congress told a news channel.

But the ammunition for the Opposition allegation had inadvertently been provided by the CPM itself. The name of youth leader K.S. Arun Kumar had been doing the rounds initially. A popular leader who has of late been stoutly defending the LDF government’s contentious semi-high-speed K-Rail project aimed at connecting the two ends of Kerala, Kumar was widely seen as the best choice.

Graffiti naming Kumar as the party candidate had also appeared in parts of the constituency before the CPM sprang a surprise by selecting Joseph, a rookie with no electoral experience although he is a member of the CPM and comes from a family that owes allegiance to the party.

Ernakulam district CPM secretary C.N. Mohanan reminded the Opposition that it was not its business to question his party’s choice.