50 Christians Join BJP in Kerala Amid Ongoing Land Dispute with Waqf Board

In a significant political development in Kerala, fifty Christian residents of Munambam, a coastal village near Kochi, formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 4, following the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Parliament. The move comes amid a longstanding land dispute with the Kerala State Waqf Board, which claims ownership over approximately 400 acres of land that villagers assert they have legally owned for generations.

The villagers, who have been protesting for 175 days, accuse the Waqf Board of attempting to dispossess them of their ancestral land. They allege that the board’s claim is baseless and stems from an outdated and disputed deed from 1950. The matter has become a flashpoint in Kerala’s political landscape, especially after the Waqf Amendment Bill sought to address grievances related to land classification and ownership.

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar visited Munambam shortly after the bill’s passage. Meeting with the protestors, he hailed their struggle and said the moment marked a turning point in Kerala’s political history. “This agitation gave strength to the Prime Minister and Parliament to pass the amendment. We will stand with you until your revenue rights are restored,” Chandrasekhar said.

He criticized both the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M)-led LDF, accusing them of betraying the people of Munambam through appeasement politics. On social media, he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting the villagers and reiterated BJP’s commitment to their cause.

Joseph Benny, convener of the Munambam Protest Action Committee, revealed that all 50 new BJP members were previously aligned with either the Congress or the CPI(M), signifying a potential shift in local political loyalties.

Adding to the political heat, Deepika — a well-known Catholic Church-backed Malayalam daily — condemned both the Congress and the Left for ignoring Christian concerns. The paper criticized the parties for opposing the bill and labeled some sections of the old Waqf Act as “anti-people.” The Church accused opposition parties of fear-mongering, claiming Christians were being targeted in North India to distract from local issues like land rights.

The Munambam land conflict has deep roots. Originally linked to a 1902 lease and a subsequent 1950 deed designating the land as Waqf, the issue remained dormant until the Nissar Commission’s 2009 report labeled the area as Waqf property. In 2019, the Waqf Board stopped accepting tax payments for the land. Though the state government tried to reverse the move in 2022, the Kerala High Court issued a stay, leaving the residents in legal limbo.

The affected land has now shrunk to around 225 acres due to severe coastal erosion, adding to the villagers’ concerns about both displacement and livelihood loss.

As tensions simmer, the BJP hopes to use such grievances to break into Kerala’s traditionally resistant political landscape, capitalizing on disillusionment within minority communities over issues like land ownership and governance.