CSI Bishops greet TN Chief Minister Jayalalitha

Two delegations of the Church of South India (CSI) on Wednesday met the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalitha to greet her on her victory at the recent assembly elections.

The delegations, comprising of bishops from the various dioceses including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Jaffna, were led by Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore AM Chinnappa and CSI moderator S Vasanthakumar.

The bishops congratulated Jayalalitha on her party's spectacular victory in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and assured the support and cooperation of more than 21 lakh members of the Church's dioceses in different states.

The 63-year-old AIADMK supremo was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for a third term on May 16 along with 33 others in her Cabinet. The AIADMK-led front won 200 of the 234 seats in the assembly elections.

The CSI representatives during the interaction expressed hope that Jayalalitha would redress the grievances of the minorities.

The priests offered prayers and sought God's blessings to "help Jayalalitha to implement welfare schemes for the poor and downtrodden without any hindrance," UNI reported.

Another Christian body, the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), recently congratulated Jayalalitha on her poll victory and said it hoped the new government would work for the "satisfaction of the last and least in the society".

"The Christian community in Tamil Nadu has always stood for the marginalized sections of the society, regardless of caste, creed or religion and rendered yeoman service in a large number of areas working for the amelioration of the suffering and the poor," GCIC President Sajan George stated in a letter dated May 13.

George requested Jayalalitha's support to the various Christian agencies "toiling for the good of the people of Tamil Nadu, especially those who still need a helping hand to eke out their living and come up in the society."

"We also wish to remind you about the assurances given by your good self in the Kanyaykumari Conclave, that you would stand by the welfare of the Christian community in Tamil Nadu, as a large number of Christians are your admirers and have worked for the success of your party throughout the state," he added.

The 2011 assembly elections saw AIADMK sweep all the regions in Tamil Nadu handing a crushing blow to the DMK-Congress combine.

Spiralling prices, power cut, corruption, especially the 2G spectrum scam, seemed to have cost the DMK dearly although the pre-poll surveys and exit polls had predicted a close fight between the two major Dravidian parties.