In a recent development that has stirred controversy, John Babu Marripudi, a pastor of Beulah Ministries India, in Andhra Pradesh has been accused of fearmongering and mixing religion with politics in a church meeting at Tenali, particularly targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The uploaded video on YouTube indicates that the pastor utilised the church as a platform to propagate biassed and misleading information aimed at influencing voters against the BJP.
On April 10, 2024, Pastor Marripudi John Babu arranged the “Tenali Mandal Pastors Fellowship” meeting at a local church, attended by local pastors.
In his religious sermon, Pastor John Babu stated, “The BJP is likely to retain power. 90% of people predict that the BJP will re-emerge; if the BJP returns to power at Central, particularly Christians in India will be in more trouble and difficulties.”
చర్చ్ లో రాజకీయం : బిజేపి కి వ్యతిరేకంగా ప్రచారం చేస్తున్న పాస్టర్… pic.twitter.com/hWnKZQ2rWS
— భోగేశ్వర ప్రసాద్ (@bhogeswarPrasad) April 12, 2024
Speaking to Organiser, Srinivas, a resident of Tenali, said, “The speech of the Pastor is like exploiting Christian religious spaces like Church for political agendas, the pastor has jeopardised the sanctity of the democratic voting process and undermined the trust of the Christian community in fair elections. This form of fearmongering not only misguides voters but also creates hurdles in establishing transparent and impartial voting practices.”
He also requested the Election Commission of Andhra Pradesh take legal action against the accused, Pastor John Babu and his team for misusing the religious platforms with a political agenda.
