Ministry concerned of new govt as elections conclude today

Election in India will wind down today, as people across seven states and two union territories will cast their ballots for a new parliament in the world's largest democracy.

This election and its results on May 16 are of paramount importance to the Christian community, especially in the backdrop of sectarian violence and swelling religious extremism.

Gospel for Asia (GFA), a leading Christian missionary organisation, says it is wary of the elections, prayerfully hoping that a secular party will lead the nation.

The ministry asked Christians to pray for a party that will rule the nation with justice and equal rights to all sections of the society, specifically emphasizing the Dalits. There are approximately 300 million Dalits in India.

"Whoever gets into power we really need to pray that the Lord would help them to respect the rights of the minorities, especially the Dalits who have suffered so much," says Dr. K. P Yohannan, president of GFA.

Yohannan also warned against the severing of electorate on religious lines. "You have the Islamic fundamentalists, and the Hindu fundamentalists and the politicians are trying to use all these groups to get into power."

The Christian leader is of an opinion that even if a belligerent nationalist party comes to power, it cant balk the ministry, but could only get hard for evangelists and church planters.

He urged Christians to "pray that this election, God will intervene and work in such a way that India will move toward more and more of a secular nation, giving freedom and liberty for the people of the country."

Several Christian ministries like GFA are concerned of non-secular parties coming to power, which could lead to the subduing of minority rights and could bring stricter rules and regulations.

Of the two main contenders - the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - the latter is considered to be more "communal" and the recent anti-Christian pogroms in Orissa and Karnataka have corroborated the same.

In many states, church forums have instructed Christians to not vote for any party that incites hatred and violence. Some mainstream organizations also released manifestos urging electorate to vote for people with secular credentials.

Polling has been completed to 457 of the 543-member Lower House of the parliament. A party needs 272 seats in the Lok Sabha to form the government. After the results of the election on Saturday, a new parliament will have to be constituted by 2 June.