On September 5, P Chidambaram, former Union Finance Minister, claimed that the defection of ten Congress MLAs in Goa who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) back in 2019 is similar to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus Christ in Biblical times. Chidambaram addressed party workers at the St. Andre Assembly constituency in North Goa that is dominated by Catholics.
Chidambaram is the All India Congress Committee’s senior observer for the Assembly polls in 2022. He further added that Congress had forgiven those who betrayed the party, but their betrayal would never be forgotten. He said, “Betrayal has been with human civilisation since the year 2000. 2,000 years ago. The first great betrayal was when Judas betrayed Jesus. We have had many, many instances of betrayal.”
He added, “All I can say is, I am very sorry, I apologise for that betrayal, please put that behind us and let us move forward with the determination that this time we will have a candidate who will remain loyal to the party, whether the party forms a government or does not form a government. I am confident we will form a government.”
In 2019, Francis Silviera, a local Congress MLA, and nine others left Congress and joined BJP. St. Andre used to be a traditional Congress-ruled region at the local level. Chidambaram said, “I know what happened here in 2017. People feel betrayed…Workers have not betrayed the party. The elected MLAs have betrayed the party. We cannot forget that betrayal. God has asked us to forgive our enemies. We will forgive them; we cannot forget what they have done.”
In 2017, Congress had won 17 seats out of 40-seats in the Goa Assembly elections. BJP managed to win only 13. However, the BJP leadership moved swiftly and joined hands with regional parties. They came to power with the support of regional parties, and Late Manohar Parikar became the CM. Since then, 13 elected Congress MLAs have shifted from Congress to BJP.
The story of Judas betrayal of Jesus Christ
According to the Gospels, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus by identifying him to the Romans to arrest him. He identified Jesus by kissing him in greetings. As the story goes, after the Last Supper, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples. It was located just outside the city of Jerusalem on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Jesus told his disciples to sit and went to pray.
It is believed that Jesus had something on his mind as he took Peter and ‘the two sons of Zebedee’ with him. After prayers, he returned to Peter and others who fell asleep. Jesus went for prayers four times, and every time his disciples fell asleep. Then he told them to get some rest as the time of his betrayal had arrived.
Soon after, Judas arrived with a crowd of priests who were carrying sticks and swords. He revealed the identity of Jesus by kissing him in greetings. As soon as he did so, the crowd of priests grabbed Jesus and moved to take him away.
Peter intervened and drew his sword. He lashed out at the servant of the high priest and sliced off his ears. However, Jesus asked him to put the sword up and allow him to get arrested.
