Aam Aadmi Party

AMRITSAR: Unfazed by its past experience, AAP has fielded Peter Masih as its candidate from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, which has sizeable Christian population.

In the 2017 byelections, AAP’s candidate Maj Gen Suresh Khajuria (retd) had forfeited his security deposit after polling only 23,579 votes. This despite the fact that then Catholic Church Bishop of Punjab, and spokesperson of Masih Maha Sabha, Bishop Franco Mulakkal had announced to extend community’s support to Khajuria. Mulakkal is the accused in Kerala nun rape case. He is also the first bishop in Indian Catholic history to be arrested in in a rape case.

Talking to TOI, Masih said, “The government figures puts Christians votes at around 7%, but I believe it is double the figure.” While he is counting on the community’s vote, he is undeterred by the fact that the Mulakkal’s announcement in the last election did not help his party. “Things have significantly changed now, I am going to give a tough fight to my opponents,” he claimed.

He said that lack of development, poor education and health services were the main issues in the constituency, besides he intended to seek more funds for Christians.

About the rape case, Masih said, “There is no question that case will have any impact on voting pattern. The accusations has not been proved and were more in media.”

Gurdaspur had been a stronghold of the Congress till BJP fielded Bollywood star Vinod Khanna in 1998, who won consecutively for three times. His death triggered the 2017 byelection.

Traditionally, Christians in Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency has been supporting major political parties — the Congress and SAD-BJP combine. By fielding Masih, AAP hopes to change that.

Punjab Congress general secretary Bishop Emanaul Rehmat Massih said, “Christians are committed Congress voters in the constituency and have high hopes from our leadership who has never disappointed them.” He claimed that AAP’s candidate didn’t have mass base. “Besides, it is not just Christian votes that will ensure victory. Any candidate have to win confidence of all communities,” he added.

President of a Christian body Jagat ki Jyoti Daniel Masih said that though Christians had been supporting both major parties, they had not been given any significant representation in the government so far.

