Former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Christian minority leader Philip C Tocher has joined Andhra Pradesh's ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP). Tocher joined YSRCP in the presence of party founder and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on June 17 at his camp office. The former MLA was accompanied by YSRCP MLC Lella Appi Reddy and party leaders Kathera Suresh and Kathera Henry Christina. Back in January, Tocher resigned from the TDP, objecting to party supremo Chandrababu Naidu’s remarks on the Christian community. Tocher was with TDP since its inception in 1983 and went on to be nominated as the Anglo-Indian MLA during the TDP regime from 2014 to 2019.
Earlier this year, at the height of the controversy in the state around alleged attacks on Hindu temples, several Christian leaders had expressed their disappointment over Naidu’s words. Naidu allegedly made the objectionable comments after visiting Ramatheertham, the centre of the controversy at the time, where an idol of the deity Rama was desecrated. The incident reignited a campaign by the opposition BJP and TDP, alleging that the YSRCP government was indifferent to an alleged spate of temple attacks. Addressing a public meeting after his visit to Ramatheertham, Naidu had alleged that Christian missionaries were involved in religious conversions near major temples in the state. Similar statements have been made on several occasions by leaders from the BJP and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, since Jagan, who is Christian, became the Chief Minister. However, so far, there has been no evidence of forced religious conversions in the state.
In his resignation letter, Tocher had written, "I am pained to inform you that I am resigning from the TDP's active membership with immediate effect from this day due to the sudden outburst remarks made by Naidu against the Christian community.” He also wrote that he had been facing grave questioning by his fellow community members across the state over the matter. Many Christian leaders in the state had reprimanded Naidu for his remarks, accusing him of making such communal statements to survive in politics.
With IANS inputs