By Shashi Bhushan

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government led by Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh is supporting the conversion of a sizable population of the state into Christianity.

BJP National secretary and co-incharge of Andhra Pradesh Sunil Deodhar said that the YSRCP government is strategically promoting conversion in the state to create a dedicated electorate on the basis of religion.

Deodhar told IANS that Reddy is planning to convert a sizable population into Christianity and thinking about winning the next few elections with their support. "Reddy thinks a large Christian population will ensure electoral victory and his continuity as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. To achieve this, he turned a blind eye to reports of mass conversions," he said.

Deodhar claimed that the morale of people involved in conversion is high with support of the state government. "Mass conversion is routine and it is done openly. We object to such a thing happening under the patronage of the state government," he alleged.

Deodhar further alleged that Reddy wants everyone to become Christian in Andhra Pradesh. "Large scale mass conversion is going on in Andhra Pradesh and the state government's failure to act against it has supported it. Hoardings and posters about mass conversion are visible in the state but no action has been taken against anyone. When someone objects, posters or hoardings are removed but the administration does not take action against such acts on its own," Deodhar further said.

According to Deodhar, a large number of people who belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community who have converted to Christianity still write "Hindu" as religion in their official documents to get government benefits of reservation.

"Taking SC benefits being Christian is illegal and anti-Christianity. Such an act is also against the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is also injustice to the SC community of Andhra Pradesh who still follow Hinduism," he said.

Deodhar pointed out that such people who follow Christianity and still take advantage of SC reservation must be identified. "Video recording people attending Churches and scrutiny of attendance register must be done to identify these people who are lying to take benefits SC reservations," he demanded.