Christian leaders of the southern Indian State of Karnataka are exploring the feasibility of fielding members from the community for the forthcoming general elections.

Christian Community Coalition, Karnataka, under the aegis of International Federation of Karnataka Christian Associations, met on January 26 at YMCA, Bengaluru, the state capital, to seek better re-presentation of the community in legislative bodies.

The federation is an organization of associations of all Christian denominations in Karnataka and abroad and has more than 60 branches in the state.

One leader, Rajshekar who travelled from Davangere, some 265 km northwest of Bengaluru, to attend the meeting, asserted that no political party should take the Christian community for granted.

“If due representation is not given for Christian candidates in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Christians would make their feelings felt by voting sensibly and it will have a cascading effect in the entire state where the Christians are a potential force to cause a swing for or against any political party,” he warned.