Missionaries of Charity row comes in handy for Congress ahead of Goa polls

The home ministry’s refusal to renew the FCRA registration of the Missionaries of Charity has kicked off a political row with Congress slamming the Centre over the decision saying this is a sign of its “prejudice against Christian charity work”.

“After Muslims, Christians are the new target of the Hindutva brigade,” said P Chidambaram, a senior leader of Congress, which is making a serious bid to stage a comeback to power in Goa next year.

On Tuesday, Chidambaram had asked the home ministry to use its “Sherlock Holmes-like skills” to quell communal violence and terrorist activity, not to “suppress” Christian charity and humanitarian work” while AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala had alleged that “Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity are the latest victims of Modi government’s vicious, vengeful and hate-driven agenda against minorities”.

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According to the 2011 census, Christians comprise 25.1% of the population in Goa, where the electoral slugfest is turning quadrangular this time with Trinamool Congress and AAP also making a bid to power. The coastal state has so far seen bi-polar politics between Congress and the BJP. The BJP has formed the government in the state for two consecutive terms.

In 2017, Congress missed the power by a whisker despite emerging as the single largest party with the saffron party sewing up a quick coalition while the Congress struggled to decide on a leadership face.

While nearly 30% of the vote base of Goa is from the Bhandari community, the Christian community is also numerically very significant, deciding outcomes in at least 10 of the 40 Assembly seats. The majority of the Christian population is centred in South Goa.

A combination of Bhandari and Christian votes is a sure shot formula to success for any party in Goa. When the late Manohar Parrikar, who belonged to the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community, was the CM, there was a demand for a deputy chief minister from the Christian community. Incumbent CM Pramod Sawant is a Maratha, which is the second important community but its vote is fragmented across the state. The NCP has also been a player in state politics, though marginally.

Against this backdrop, the row over Mother Teresa’s charity has come in handy to Congress to project the BJP as anti-Christian and strengthen its Bhandari-Christian vote base.

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