Recently, social media posts of ration cards in Andhra Pradesh with the image of Jesus Christ imprinted on them went viral. Some social media users linked the images to the government of Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, a Christian himself. Critics of Jagan have frequently accused him of pandering to Christians, citing acts such as increasing subsidies to pilgrims touring the Holy Land and instituting financial assistance to pastors.
The ration cards in question have an image of Jesus printed on their backside and were distributed in a village in Krishna district. News agency ANI reported that the YSRCP government denied any links to the ration cards and accused a member of the opposition TDP of creating them to "promote propaganda".
The state government released a statement that said the "Ration dealer's husband, who is a TDP member from Vadlamuru village, had printed Jesus Christ's picture on the ration cards and intentionally promoted propaganda." The YSRCP government described the individual as a "die-hard TDP fan" and not a converted Christian.
The YSRCP government said the same person had printed the image of Sai Baba on ration cards in 2016, Lord Balaji in 2017 and 2018 and now Jesus Christ.
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The New Indian Express identified the dealer as "Manga Devi, whose husband is a TDP leader". The New Indian Express reported that police suspect the cards were printed to malign the reputation of the YSRCP government.
The government assured that its civil supplies department would take action over the incident. An official of the civil supplies department told mediapersons that the ration cards with the image of Jesus Christ had been issued only by one dealer and were in use only in one village.
The incident comes weeks after an uproar over the YSRCP government hiking subsidy for Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land in the Middle East from Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 (for people with annual income of up to Rs 3 lakh). In August, Jagan's government issued an order granting a honorarium of Rs 5,000 to pastors. While rightwing groups and opposition parties criticised the moves, the YSRCP government contended it was only continuing policies instituted by previous governments.
