All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal (file)
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal has alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sangh Parivar are “promoting hate and divisive politics for electoral gains”, accusing the Centre of orchestrating a “political drama” over the arrest and delayed release of two Keralite nuns in Chhattisgarh.
Speaking to the media after visiting the family of Sister Vandana Francis at Udayagiri in Kannur, Kerala, on Friday (August 1, 2025), Mr. Venugopal questioned the BJP’s “logic in celebrating the nuns’ release after eight days of custody.”
“If BJP leaders in Kerala truly cared, they would have acted on the day of the arrest itself, just as they react when cakes are distributed in Christian homes,” he said.
Slams Chhattisgarh government
Mr. Venugopal criticised the BJP-led Chhattisgarh government for slapping “serious charges” such as human trafficking and religious conversion on the nuns, which he claimed were baseless.
“These nuns were entitled to bail on the first day itself. Instead, the BJP government denied them justice and prolonged their custody by pushing for the cases to be transferred to an NIA court,” he said.
Alleging that the Sangh Parivar’s ideology is “inherently anti-minority”, Mr. Venugopal said this pattern was visible across all BJP-ruled States.
“Even BJP MPs from Chhattisgarh are using provocative language. The Chief Minister is speaking in tone of the Bajrang Dal and all of this is happening with the knowledge of the Central BJP leadership,” he added.
He accused BJP leaders in Kerala of engaging in theatrics to woo the Christian community, “which has always stood for secularism.”
“They will see through the BJP’s double standards,” he said, citing previous incidents in Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Chhattisgarh and Odisha as “examples of targeted action against Christians.”
Mr. Venugopal said he had immediately appealed to the Union Home Minister and the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister following the arrests of the nuns and that the Congress had launched strong protests inside and outside Parliament.
“A delegation of MPs was sent to Chhattisgarh. On the direction of the AICC, former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel visited the nuns in jail. Despite all this, the BJP government refused to act,” he said.
Published – August 01, 2025 12:01 pm IST
