The BJP’s candidate and sitting MP from Mumbai North constituency, Gopal Shetty, last year had stoked controversy after when he referred to Christians as “foreigners”. But as Mumbai gears up for general elections the Christian community in the constituency have moved on from Shetty’s remarks and want him to work on the development and local issues.
According to the Indian Express, there are 56,000 Christian voters in the Mumbai North constituency and for them they want Gopal Shetty to work on the development of the community, local issues. Lawrence Fernandes, vice president, Bombay Catholic Sabha told the leading daily, “We are a peace-loving community and the Bombay Catholic Sabha is apolitical. We were hurt by his comments, but now we want to know what are the candidates’ plan for the development of the area and the community, among others. Not just Shetty, we are meeting all the candidates and submitting the charter of demands.”
The Christian community in the constituency have come together under the banner Citizens for Good Governance, the Bombay Catholic Sabha’s charter of demands is divided into 10 categories – economy, minorities, environment, RTI Act, electoral reforms, education, health, judicial reforms, and women’s empowerment.
In 2018, Gopal Shetty while addressing a gathering during the Eid-E-Milad at Malad’s Malvani, Shetty had claimed that Indian Christians had no role to play in the freedom movement. A video of his speech went viral. He was quoted saying, “Christians were British, and hence they didn’t participate in the freedom movement.”
