by Moiz Mannan
If Aam Admi Party’s foreign cells have devised the slogan “Together, We Can,” based on President Barrack Obama’s “Yes, We Can,” the overseas ‘friends’ of Bharatiya Janata Party have adapted the traditional India “Chai Pe Charcha” (discussion over tea) concept to extend Narendra Modi’s campaign beyond Indian shores.
Rarely ever before has there been such a strong buzz about Indian elections among its diaspora abroad that numbers around 25 million. Rarely ever before has India been at such a crucial juncture of its “tryst with destiny” as a global power.
Yes. At a time when the nation of over one billion is in the midst of circumstances favourable not just to achieve greatness but also have greatness thrust upon it, the monumental significance of a general election is not lost upon the non-resident Indian (NRI). More so, because by virtue of being away from the country, the diaspora is in a better position to see and appreciate the ‘larger picture’ than the resident Indian who tends to get caught up with the nitty gritty of local issues and amenities.
It is not at all surprising, therefore, that Indians across the world are getting more closely involved or rather engaged with Lok Sabha 2014 elections. Earlier, the involvement was restricted to debates and discussions in drawing rooms and cafeterias, but now more and more NRIs appear keen to actually “do something about it.”
That important “it” this time around seems to stand for ‘change.’ It does not take a political pundit to see the anti-incumbency factor. However, this ‘change’ is triggered by more than just the fact that the Congress-led UPA that’s been in power for a decade now.
The diaspora is fed up with headlines of scams and cronyism that have so negatively labelled their beloved country abroad. It is another matter that the surfacing and massive publicity of the scandals has been a result of cut-throat competition in the Indian electronic media in particular and the Congress’ pathetic failure in projecting the positive work done by it.
The ruling alliance’s only engagement with the diaspora has been through the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which it successfully turned into an elitist NRI club, nothing more.
The real trigger for the NRIs’ thickened involvement with Indian electoral politics was provided by the Aam Admi Party (AAP) when it jostled its way past the established biggies – the Congress and the BJP – on its way to power in the Deli assembly. That was when most NRIs really started to think that ‘change’ was still possible.
The emergence of AAP, especially with all the help from its overseas chapters, helped Indians get rid of some of the despondency and dismay that had set in over the years about the Indian political system. Of course, at the same time the social media networks’ penetration in India too was increasing by leaps and bounds, making for a closer interaction among resident and non-resident friends and relatives.
Even the GenNext of the diaspora who are now citizens of host countries seem thoroughly interested in doing something about the country of their parents’ or grandparents’ origin. From available reports, this crop of PIOs (persons of Indian origin) has been rubbing shoulders with recent Indian migrants of their age in places like Silicon Valley to campaign for AAP.
In the US, various AAP chapters have adopted Lok Sabha constituencies in India where they will directly or indirectly campaign for corruption free governance promised by AAP.
The ‘change’ factor was given a further boost by Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) outstandingly focused campaign pitching Narendra Modi for prime minister. The BJP was always had strong support from the Indian diaspora in the US, the UK, Canada and East Africa. But now, taking a leaf out of the AAP book, their sympathisers are not just sending in funds but are actively campaign on the ground or in the virtual world for the saffron alliance candidates across India.
The observations of political analysts are supported by a few opinion polls in the West when they put the diaspora support for AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal ahead of BJP’s ‘NaMo”. Being in the position they are in, Indians living and working in Europe and North America seem to think that Modi is just not cut out for a national or, more importantly for them, international role even though he may have been a successful provincial chief minister. His foreign policy with regard to the West and India’s neighbours appears to be suspect.
Similarly, Indian expatriates in the Gulf countries are still vary of Modi’s ‘communal’ credentials. The ‘clean chit’ given to him by some investigating agencies and even the courts is not very convincing owing to the perception that key evidence pertaining to the Gujarat pogroms was tampered with or destroyed. Most of the Modi-haters are not Congress-lovers, though. Again, the ‘change’ for them is symbolized by media favourite-turned-enemy Arvind Kejriwa.
How all this translates into votes on D-Day is to be seen, but the diaspora is surely not watching this election from a distance. Not being able to vote from abroad has not held them back. There are reports of scores of NRIs flying in to campaign and vote by chartering flights. There are also reports of ‘election tourism’ wherein travel agents are actually offering packages aimed at giving foreigners and NRIs a ‘flavour’ of the polls along with the regular sight-seeing.
In this dance of democracy, the NRI is trying his best to tango with the local. To whose tune? We shall see.
The Peninsula
