Christians unhappy with Congress

By Afshan Yasmeen

BANGALORE, OCT. 29. Are the elections to the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) Council getting polarised along community lines? It appears so, considering the banner of protest being raised by organisations of Christians against ``inadequate representation'' for the community in the list of Congress candidates.

Earlier, there were murmurs among ``frustrated'' Muslim and Tamil voters, who protested against the Congress for the same reason. The protest from Christians has affect the party candidates' calculations as the City is home to nearly 15 lakh members of the community.

On their part, Christian leaders are in a punishing mood. Influential community bodies such as the Christian United Front have given a call to ``retaliate against the Congress'' by ``ignoring'' the party in the polls. The front has appealed to Christians to protest against the ``step-motherly'' attitude of the Congress by not casting their votes in favour of the party candidates.

While the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP have fielded two Christian candidates each, the JD (Secular) has allotted the party ticket to four members of the community. The Congress has allotted only one ticket to the community (it has fielded Mr. John Divyakumar Reddy from Sanjaynagar), causing resentment.

``Although the party leaders know very well that most of the votes for the party candidates are from the Christian community, it (the Congress) has not considered us as a minority group. This is unfair,'' Fr. Adolf Washington, member of the Indian Catholic Press Association, told The Hindu on Monday.

``We never expected this from the party which claims to be secular. The Catholic Church authorities are contemplating working out a strategy to consolidate the Christian community votes this time,'' he said.

The community members have been disenchanted with the Congress Government since the removal of Mr. T. John from the ministry. ``We have been ignored by the Congress. None of the community members has been given representation in either the Cabinet or the recently formed boards and corporations,'' Mr. Shanth Kumar, President of the Christian United Front, said.

``The Muslim community has been given adequate representation because of the efforts of the prominent Congress leaders from the community. Maybe, the step-motherly treatment towards the community is due to the fact that we do not have any leaders in the party to fight for our cause,'' members of the front said.

The front has despatched a memorandum to the AICC President, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, and the KPCC President, Mr. Allum Veerabhadrappa, complaining against the ``inadequate'' representation to the community.

When contacted, sources in the Congress said that the party had done its best to accommodate Christians in the list of candidates. However, they could not do so due to the changes in the reservation of wards.

``We did not have any able candidates in wards reserved for the community. And, in wards where we had able Christian candidates, reservation of wards worked against them. So, only one candidate has been accommodated,'' sources said.

Members of the community are contesting as independents in the polls in which minority communities may play a key role.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : She gifted life from her deathbed
Next     : House fails to break stalemate