by Nirmala Carvalho

Across the country, members of the minority rejoice over the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party's victory in the capital. For the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), the result "is the triumph of our democratic system" against growing religious intolerance. "My hope," a priest in Odisha said, "is that Kejriwal's development policies will not just be centred on economics, but will include fairness, equality and human dignity".

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - "Millions of people voted against the BJP out of disgust for the actions of violent radical nationalist forces and their distortion of history and science," said Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), as he spoke to AsiaNews about the victory by the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.

As the defeat by the Hindu nationalists Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to resonate around India, various Christian communities express joy at the success of Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi's new chief minister.

For Sajan George, this result "is a triumph of our democratic system, the consequence of growing intolerance toward minorities, the desecration and vandalism against five churches in Delhi, and the complicit silence of the federal government in the face of violence against the Christian community."

Fr Ajaya Kumar Singh, a human rights activist in Bhubaneswar (Odisha), agrees. "With AAP's win in Delhi, Hindutva fascist forces will now be checked," he told AsiaNews. "My hope," he went on to say, "is that Kejriwal's development policies will not just be centred on economics, but will also include fairness, equality and human dignity".

For his part, Michael Gonsalves, senior assistant editor at the Financial Chronicle, the AAP's "resounding victory has demonstrated that ordinary people cannot be bribed, pressured or threatened and that they can rise above caste, creed, religion and politics for the development of the country".

In fact, the "AAP won over the common man," he explained, "because AAP leaders repeatedly committed themselves to the daily needs of the common man, like electricity, water, good roads and governance without corruption,"

In view of this, Arvind "Kejrival should always remember that, as he goes about his daily business of governance, the common man is conscious, cautious, conscientious and above all watchful over every move the AAP" will make.

(Santosh Digal contributed to this article)

• india
• delhi
• election
• aam
• aadmi
• party
• arvind
• kejriwal