Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins 24 seats, Congress (Inc) only 9. Candidacy of
6 Catholics among the ranks of the Hindu nationalist party fundamental. Fr.
Theodore Mascarenhas: "Catholics are tired of corruption; they want to
trust the BJP candidate. Now they must prove that there will be no
discrimination. "
Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Hindu ultra-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
has won elections in Goa, one of the most Christian states in India. Manohar
Parrikar Prabhu will be the new chief minister. The BJP won 24 seats, compared
to only 9 won by Sonia Gandhi's Congress (Inc).
To ensure victory, Parrikar presented six Catholic candidates and supported two
independent Catholics. All six won. According to Fr. Theodore Mascarenhas,
originally from Goa and responsible for Asia, Africa and Oceania
to the Pontifical Council for Culture, the "Catholics of Goa were
saturated with the rampant corruption of the
old government. They wanted to give it a chance. Now, it is for the BJP to
prove that there will be no discrimination or violence based on religion.
"
"The BJP - said the priest - was well organized and focused on the figure
of Parrikar. He apologized for the mistakes of the past against the Christians,
and as an act of good will nominated 7 members of the Catholic community. The
Congress instead has continued to offer the Raj family (influential dynasty of Goa), giving no impression of wanting to find a way out
of this clientele mechanism. People were caught between corruption and violence
based on religion. They no longer wanted to be represented by corrupt
politicians, and felt that even the BJP would be better than a few families
controlling the
State. They wanted to trust Parrikar, and the nomination of six Catholics has
certainly made the decision easier. "
However, Fr. Mascarenhas is cautions, "what Parrikar and the BJP have to
remember is that their alliance got only 39% of the votes against 32% of
Congress. Each of them against a good chunk of voters. They must be careful not
to harass the Catholic community again." In this new scenario, "the
Church must be very vigilant in the interests of all citizens. It could not
support the Congress because of rampant
corruption. Parrikar has apologized, so we can not define them as ultranationalist
without giving them a second chance. "
Venkaiah Naidu, known member of the BJP, commented on the victory by saying
that "voters have left behind the religion and have chosen for their good
government." But Fr. Mascarenhas specifies: "They most luminous
principles of the Word of God led people to vote against corruption, even
braving the danger of violence based on religion. For
this reason, the BJP should never take for granted those who voted, and prove
they have no hidden agenda. Let them remember that there are other principles
of faith that come into play at the next election. "
Goa is the fourth smallest Indian state for
the total population (1.4 million people) and land mass. Christianity arrived
in 1500 with the Portuguese. After Hindus (66%), Christians today are the
second largest religious group (27%), followed by Muslims (6.8%). The Christian
community is mostly Catholic and has 360 thousand faithful.