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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s efforts to woo the Christian community ahead of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll via the newly-announced United Punjab Party (UPP) came to fruition Thursday, with the outfit extending its support to the Bhagwant Mann-led party for the crucial May 10 election.
The election in Jalandhar is a litmus test for the AAP, which had lost the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat last year three months after it swept to power in the state. The party has therefore left no stone unturned to make inroads into the constituency, which has one of the highest concentrations of Dalits in the state. The election was necessitated by the death of Jalandhar’s sitting Congress MP.
On April 10, a week after the UPP was formed by different churches in the state, Mann visited Bishop Agnelo Gracias, the apostolic administrator of Jalandhar Diocese. After that, AAP leaders reportedly discussed long-pending issues voiced by the Christian community and assured to meet all their demands. The UPP, which had announced Surjit Thapar as its candidate for the bypoll, consequently decided not to file nomination papers.
Among the concerns that have been frequently raised by the community are the need for more graveyards in the state, jurisdiction of schools under the Jalandhar Diocese, and the representation of the community in various government departments.
Party president Albert Dua, a senior member of Catholic Church (Diocese of Jalandhar) and two-time president of the Catholic Church of Sarabha Nagar in Ludhiana, told The Indian Express: “Our party will exist and we will see what they do for us. Otherwise, in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, we will contest under the banner of our party.”
“Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema had a meeting with us and we discussed our issues with him. He also made us talk to the Punjab CM on the phone. He assured us that we will solve all problems within this year,” said Roshan Joseph, the general secretary of the party, while talking to the media.
Joseph added that the decision to not file nomination papers was taken unanimously, after holding a meeting. “The Christian community has decided not to contest the elections in support of the AAP,” he said.
The move had been anticipated since the April 10 meeting, soon after which, Bishop Gracias said: “It was his (CM Mann’s) initiative to meet and we are happy about it. We put our cards on the table, and we offered our support to them. The CM said he would get back if any need arises. We are ready to support any party which will work for the good of the people. The Church officially will not join or back any one party.”
However, some UPP members talked of “pressure on the party from several quarters including from their community to not file nomination papers and support the ruling AAP”.
As per the 2011 Census, Christians constitute 1.5 per cent of the total population in the state. This figure is believed to be substantially higher, with “believers” who have been formally initiated into the Christian fold but who don’t identify themselves as Christian.
The UPP was the first political party formed in the state specifically for the Christian community.
This is just the latest political churning in the Jalandhar bypoll, which has already seen several high-profile defections between parties, as well as the return to the original party by one of them.
