BJP incurs wrath of Christians in AP
K Sunil Kumar in Hyderabad
As the countdown for the general election began, the Bharatiya Janata Party started wooing the minorities.
Resolving the two-decade-old Azadari procession issue in Uttar Pradesh, the party has been going to town that it was inching closer to the Muslims.
Whether or not such claims are true, Christians seems to be sore with the party in Andhra Pradesh, where the saffron brigade is making its first major bid -- it has also roped in superstar Vijayshanti -- to capture a sizable number of Lok Sabha seats.
Despite the BJP's high decibel 'secular talk', the party has no convincing answer as far as an unsavoury incident, involving party activist Ravindra Reddy, is concerned. The leader allegedly beat up a pastor and burnt his Bible at Medchal, near Hyderabad recently.
The incident, which occurred last fortnight, has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Christians who organised a protest rally at Medchal. However, the BJP leadership has done little to assuage their feelings.
Meeting a Christian delegation recently, all that the state BJP leaders, including its national spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu, said was they would 'ascertain' if the BJP leader was involeved in the incident.
However, last week, when the BJP leader's role became 'quite clear', no action was taken.
Reports say that Ravindra Reddy and four other party activists beat up Bharat Bible College pastor M Samuel and his two friends at Medchal. Their Bible was also burnt.
Ravindra Reddy was subsequently arrested by the police, but the other accused are still at large.
"Coming as it did on the eve of election, the incident clearly indicates the shape of things to come if the BJP is elected to power," pastor Anil Alexander of the Church of the Living God told Rediff On The NeT.
Bharat Bible College director, Dr Jeevaratnam Buraga said it was not the first time that a pastor of the college was attacked by BJP activists.
AP United Christians Association general secretary T Vinod Kumar said the incident spoke volumes of the BJP's communal nature.
Christian leaders submitted a memorandum to the local mandal revenue officer and Ranga Reddy district collector Satish Chandra. A representation was also made to Governor C Rangarajan even as the Congress tried to extract some political mileage out of the incident.
Both the Congress and the BJP are eyeing the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, represented in the dissolved House by former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao's son Rajeshwar Rao.
The constituency has a sizeable Christian population which, sources said, would now strive for the defeat of state BJP president Bandaru Dattatreya who is contesting the seat.
Dattatreya, who was elected from the constituency in 1991, lost to Rajeshwara Rao by more than 200,000 votes in the 1996 poll.
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