Modi Gets Massive NRI Support

Distance doesn’t matter when it comes to their love for the first
man of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. Far away from their hometown, Gujarat,
US-based supporters of Chief Minister Narendra Modi are leaving no stones
unturned in getting Modi back to power. Enormous campaigns have been
launched on the phone and via email asking NRI Gujarati’s to persuade
their family members in India to go out and vote for Modi.

Although NRI’s are not allowed to vote in India and US laws do not
permit fundraising but many Modi supporters have left to campaign in
Gujarat- a state that is flush with NRI remittances. Advertisements
have also been placed in local Indian papers.

Organizers believe that distance won’t be a hindrance and the campaign
will definitely have an impact.
According to Sanjay Jain, Vice President of the Overseas Friends of
BJP ”A view point or opinion of a member of the NRI community has more
of an impact on a Gujarati than that of somebody from another state
in India. Somebody calling from America saying that we have seen the
progress of the Government and you should consider voting for them goes
a long way especially since we do not stand to gain in any way”.

The Gujarati community is a large business community in U.S, specially
in the hotel industry. In fact they are so well-established that they
are referred to as the ‘Patel, Motel Cartel’.

The Gujarati supporters of Modi credit him for making Gujarat the No
1 state in India, as per Rajiv Gandhi Foundation’s Economic Freedom
Index.

”The average Gujarati earns 2.3 times more than the average Indian.
Gujarat growth is 15 percent. Gujarat is becoming another Singapore.
What more do you want?” asks Narayan Kataria of supportgujarat.org,
an online support group that has sent out over a 100,000 emails in support
of Modi.

Commenting on the 2005 riots Mr. Sanjay Jain said that whatever has
happened is sub judice. It is being taken care of by the system in India,
which is a fair system. We just want to focus on economic development.
Intimately it’s bread and butter that matters for common man.

Photo: Kolkata Port Trust Building – 15 Strand Road – Kolkata 2016-10-11 0361 by Biswarup Ganguly, licensed under CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.