Mayawati promises reservation status to Dalit Christians in Kerala

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Saturday assured reservation benefits for Dalit Christians in Kerala if her party is elected to power.

Launching her 52-day poll campaign, Mayawati gave special emphasis on protecting the rights of Dalits and religious minorities.

"Labourers, religious minorities and the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe communities continue to be aggrieved even 61 years after independence," she said.

Also vowing to curb terrorism and Maoist violence, the BSP head continued, "Many from these communities have taken to Naxalism (Maoism) and other wrong ways because of this neglect."

The BSP announced candidates for all 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Meanwhile, the Orthodox Church in Kerala has decided to position four candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. This development occurred after the 2.5 million-strong Kottayam headquartered church felt distressed over the Congress party ignoring its request to place a Christian for the Pathanamthitta seat.

Dejected over the Congress refusal, secretary of the church, George Joseph told IANS: "We are certain that we can dent the hopes of the Congress in a few places because we have 298 churches in the state and we are going to take up this seriously."

"We know we will not win but we can easily take away 50,000 votes which could dent the prospects of victory for the Congress candidates. The laity will respond to the call from the church," he added.

The names submitted for the Pathanamthitta seat include: senior IAS official Jiji Thompson, Lal Varghese Kalpakavadi, chief of the farmers wing of the Congress party, and Babu George, a Congress leader.