A Christian slated to become the first Chief Minister of one of the largest states

HYDERABAD: Andra Pradesh could become the first state among big states in India to have Christian as its Chief Minister. The front–runner for the post of Chief Minister is none other than a professed Christian by faith. That could change the hostile atmosphere faced by Christians in the South East Coastal region of India neihbouring the states of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh that have seen maximum Christians prosecution in recent time.

YSR Reddy is no ordinary man, he humbled Chandra Babu Naidu, the IT face of Chief Minister in India who had ruled Andra Pradesh for the last nine years and have turned Hyderabad to Cyberabad due to his high–flying initiatives in IT sector. YSR Reddy is a doctor–turned–politician who revived the Congress party in the state getting a staggering 226seats for his party out of 294 total seats in the Assembly election, leaving only 49 seats to the outgoing Telegu Desam Party(TDP) & 2 seats to BJP.

Andra Pradesh, being one of the biggest states send 42 MPs to the Lower House(Lok Sabha) of Parliament. As the counting of the votes for Lok Sabha election will begin tomorrow, the speculation is that BJP & its NDA key ally TDP may not retain their last number in the state Lok Sabha election too that may have an adverse effect on the ruling National Democratic Alliance(NDA) hopes of getting magical 272 seats required for form government at the centre.

YSR Reddy, though Protestant Christian like many Christian politicians is not seen as a very practical Christians due to various factors involved in multi–religious country like India, but his elevation to the Chief Ministership is definitely the shape of better atmosphere to reign in India.

Peter Beita