The Council of Baptist Churches in North-East India (CBCNEI), the apex body of the region's Baptist denomination, said the appeal was being made with a view to cautioning the electorate about the need for "making the right choice" in electing "morally clean and non-corrupt" candidates. Several northeastern states will be voting on September 25 and October 3.

"We want the people to vote conscientiously and elect any candidate irrespective of caste, creed and religion who would work for the region's development and harmony and provide safety and protection to the minorities without any discrimination," CBCNEI general secretary JM Pau told IANS.

CBCNEI urged the voters to be careful not to elect those candidates who have a "narrow vision, with a divisive and communal bent ofideology". "We are a secular country and the minorities need protection by whichever government is at the Centre and hence the appeal," Pau said.

Biswajit Baruah, a Baptist who teaches at a Guwahati college, noted 30 per cent of the northeast's 30 million population is Christian and held the church in high esteem. "This is definitely going to have an impact on the voters about the need to choose the right candidate. The church appeal will make us aware of our duties as citizens," he said.

Ever since the advent of Christianity in the northeast in 1836, the church has been playing a mediatory role, at times brokering peace settlements among warring tribes and playing the part of an intermediary between insurgent outfits.

Christian missionaries have been instrumental in spreading education in remote tribal areas where no government schools have been set up till date. It is estimated that American and British missionaries established at least 10,000 convent schools, besides setting up health centres in thefar-flung areas of the seven northeastern states. Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya have also issued poll guidelines to voters and candidates for the peaceful conduct of elections.

"We have asked the candidates not to indulge in personal vendetta and mud-slinging while campaigning. We want the parties to highlight issues which matter to people without going in for personalised attacks," said Edson Momin, a church leader in the East Garo Hill district of Meghalaya.Political parties in general have welcomed the call of the church, saying "god-fearing" people would obey the diktats and use their conscience while voting.

"It is for the people to decide, but I think the church has been doing the right thing by making the electorate conscious of its rights," said PA Sangma, former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a candidate in the Tura parliamentary constituency in Meghalaya.