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Goa's influential Roman Catholic Church has appealed to the people to reject candidates who represent communal interests, who are habitual defectors or are known to have used money and muscle power.
In view of the assembly election scheduled for May 30, the Church has directed clergymen to take up a campaign to create awareness among the people. And, interestingly, all major political parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, have welcomed the Church directive.
The Diocesan Service Centre for Social Action, the church body that reacts to social issues, has asked all priests to hold group meetings and village meetings to appeal to voters to elect reliable candidates and not those who will betray the people once again.
The Church has also asked priests to join hands with like-minded non-governmental organisations to encourage and support honest, fair and dedicated persons to contest the election. "The people should promote a third candidate if the choice is between a communal and a corrupt one," it said.
According to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Church letter targets Congressmen since, according to him, the Congress has all the corrupt and communal persons who use money and muscle power to get elected.
In Goa, the Congress primarily banks upon Christian and Muslim votes, which usually do not go to the BJP. But while the Muslims constitute a mere 2 per cent of the electorate, the Christians, who total 26 per cent, are a major factor.
While Christians dominate nine of the 40 constituencies in the state, three others have influential Christian populations and another 12 have sizable Christian sections.
But it is also a fact that the Church had indirectly supported BJP MP Ramakant Angle in the last Lok Sabha election to defeat Christian candidates of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party and teach selfish politicians a lesson.
"We are talking to the Church on the issue," said Congress observer Pradyut Guha, while welcoming the statement. He felt it would restrain people from voting for the 'communal' BJP, but refused to comment on the appeal to reject defectors.
The assembly that was dissolved midway through its term on February 27 had 25 such habitual defectors, most of them Congressmen. The Congress is planning to field a majority of them as their 'winnable' candidates while the BJP is also fielding some.
Dr Wilfred de Souza, the NCP leader and former chief minister who was pushed to third place in the last Lok Sabha election, also welcomed the statement, claiming that it would help his party's 'clean' candidates.
De Souza's group had defected in 1998 to topple the then Congress government and form a coalition government with the BJP's support. De Souza joined the NCP after the 1999 assembly election, but refuses to admit that his party too is a group of habitual defectors.
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