The BJP’s outreach bid to “win the trust” of Christians on the occasion of Easter Sunday has received mixed reactions from Delhi residents belonging to the minority community.
Led by BJP leader Ashish Sood, party workers made door-to-door visits to nearly 1,000 Christian households in West Delhi areas where the community predominantly resides and handed out Easter greeting cards in the PM’s name.
Sunday’s outreach, claimed to be the first such initiative by the party in the city, kicked off just hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Gole Market’s Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The campaign and the PM’s visit were received warmly by many, albeit with a desire for more to be done on the ground. “It is a welcome step that the PM celebrated the festival with the Christian community,” Father Aloysius, an assistant parish priest at Sacred Heart Cathedral Church, told The Hindu.
Keith Tirkey, a Hari Nagar resident who was visited by BJP workers, said, “It is good that they are making an effort. But the BJP needs to do more to protect the minorities.”
‘Not for votes’
According to Mr. Sood, this campaign was not focused on the Christian votes in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “The PM has said we need to win the trust of all communities even if we don’t get their votes. If we do, it will be an added outcome of our efforts,” he added.
But for Baleshwar Rai, the reality on the ground is different. While volunteering at a book stall set up by a Christian non-profit at the New Delhi World Book Fair last month, Mr. Rai was threatened by a group of men who accused the organisation of forcible religious conversions.
“[The PM’s] message is not being adhered by his own followers. Those who attacked us were from right-wing outfits. If he is really concerned about minorities, he should take action against such people,” Mr. Rai said.
A. C. Michael, president of Federation of Catholic Associations of Archdiocese of Delhi and a former Member of Delhi Minorities Commission, said the PM should have taken the opportunity to ask “various RSS units to stop targeting Christians on false allegations of forceful conversions”.
