Fisheries Minister V.E. Abdul Gafoor
| Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin
The Latin Catholic Church, on Friday (May 22, 2026), showed few signs of renouncing its claim to a Kerala Cabinet post for the coastal community, preferably the Fisheries portfolio currently held by V.E. Abdul Gafoor of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
Mr. Gafoor’s mission to iron out difficulties with the Church leadership in a closed-door one-to-one with Thiruvananthapuram Archbishop Thomas J. Netto at the Bishop’s House at Vellayambalam appeared to have yielded mixed results.
Fr. Beed Manoj G. Amado, a spokesperson for the diocese, signalled that the Church leadership was still rankled by the non-inclusion of a Latin Catholic legislator as a Minister in the United Democratic Front (UDF) Cabinet.
“Some behind-the-scenes string-pulling and political drama” deprived the fisherfolk community of its due representation in the Cabinet, he said.
Fr. Amado said Health Minister K. Muraleedharan, who had called on the Archbishop along with Transport Minister and Communist Marxist Party (CMP) leader C. P. John, had expressed “umbrage” that the Latin Catholic community felt overlooked. “Mr Muraleedharan said no party could afford to treat the fisherfolk community as a mute vote bank with zero reciprocity”, Fr. Amado added.
Significant electoral bloc
Notably, the Latin Catholic community forms a significant electoral bloc in coastal Kerala, and has traditionally hewed to the Congress-led UDF. Fr. Amado noted the community’s social and electoral significance by highlighting that Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan had called on Archbishop Netto hours after being sworn in last Monday (May 18).
Earlier, Vicar-General Fr. Eugene Periera had reiterated the importance of the Fisheries department to the fisherfolk community. He had stressed that only a leader who “instinctively senses the soul of fishers” should hold the portfolio.
Fr. Periera had also stated that the Minister handling the Fisheries portfolio was “extremely important” to the coastal community. He had urged the ruling front to ensure that the Fisheries department did not “turn its back on the fisher community”.
No space for resentment: Gafoor
Mr. Gafoor told reporters later that his interaction with the Church leadership unfolded against a backdrop of mutual trust. “The government has offered the community total support. There was no space for any resentment”, he added.
Published – May 22, 2026 03:16 pm IST
