Bhopal, Sept. 1: Christians plan to send “thank you for the riots” post cards to Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, L.K. Advani and Naveen Patnaik to protest the Orissa violence.

Madhya Pradesh Isai Mahasangh, an umbrella body of Christian organisations in the state, has decided to send 1,00,000 such cards to the Congress chief, the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition and the Orissa chief minister. Given that Christians make up less than 2 per cent of Madhya Pradesh’s population, the campaign will involve almost all households of the community.

Churches have been burnt and at least 14 persons killed in Kandhamal and other parts of Orissa in the violence that erupted after the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his associates on August 23.

Mahasangh spokesperson Father Anand Muttungal has said getting support would not be a problem. “The government (Orissa) has turned a blind eye and the Congress has remained a mute spectator when thousands of families are fleeing and turning homeless. We are appalled by the stand of L.K. Advani and his party.” The BJP is a partner in the Orissa coalition.

Anand said Christian groups, including the Catholic Bishops’ Council, met last evening and felt that both the BJP and the Congress were responsible for the sorry state of affairs.

The Orissa mayhem and the protest are likely to figure in the campaign for the Madhya Pradesh polls in November. The community has been a staunch Congress supporter and has pockets of influence in over 30 seats in the 230-member Assembly.

Some office-bearers of Christian organisations in the state spoke of a growing feeling in the community that the Congress was not standing by them in Orissa, Gujarat and elsewhere. “If this trend continues, it will have a bearing on our voting pattern,” Anand said.

The Congress has denied the allegation. The party’s state general secretary, Rajeev Singh, said: “The Prime Minister’s statement on the Orissa violence is a clear testimony to it. Our state (Madhya Pradesh) president Suresh Pachauri has also conveyed the community’s feelings to Sonia Gandhi in Delhi today.”