Congress fields Christians heeding to leading council

The Congress party has decided to field Christians in Maharashtra following the request of a leading Christian council in the country.

The dearth of Christian representation in political parties has long worried church leaders in India. Challenging this trend, the All India Christian Council (aicc) had written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi urging poll nominations for Christians - who rarely involve in national politics.

In view of this, the Congress accepted two of the council's nine nominees - Janet D'Souza from Ghatkopar and Gonsalves, an advocate from Vasai, according to The Telepgrah.

"We had written to Sonia Gandhi early this month asking for deserving representation for Christians in the party's candidate list, and we are extremely happy," the newspaper quoted Abraham Mathai of the aicc saying.

Says Mathai, the letter was written to tackle the lack of Christian representation due to the "importance of integrating with the mainstream."

The council chose Congress, he says, because Christians were traditional supporters of the party.

"Christians are considered fixed deposits for the Congress and not vote banks. Vote banks can shift their loyalty, but FDs never do that," he said.

John Dayal, general secretary of the aicc, says Christians have been sidelined and this includes even secular parties like Congress.

"Christians have always been sidelined in the Congress because of the Christian background of its president. Scared that the RSS would link any Christian leader's rise in the power hierarchy to that background, many Christian leaders have been deliberately kept low-key,'' he was quoted saying.

Last year, a group of Christians had formed the Indian Minority Front to actively involve in politics and "fight for the rights of religious minorities." The party claims to represent over 500 members throughout India

In the past there were several Christian parties vying for political success, but none were recognized in the state or national level because of their poor electoral showing.

Christian Democratic Front, Indian Christian Front, Indian Christian Secular Party, All India Christian Democratic and Backward People's Party, Christhava Makkal Katchi (Christian children party) and Christian Munnetra Kazhgam (progressive party) are some of these parties.