by Moiz Mannan
Not very long back, in this space, we took note of how the Lok Sabha 2014 election campaigning had enthused a large section of non-resident Indians (NRIs). Now that the brouhaha of electioneering is well nigh over, let’s take stock of some of the interesting facets of NRIs participation in these eventful polls.
Quantitatively speaking, we saw a larger than ever before number of overseas Indians actually descending on the motherland to join the rough and tumble of campaigning for their favourite party or candidate. A much bigger number by far were no less involved by sitting in their offices and homes outside India and rooting for their candidates making use of the latest that Information Technology has to offer.
Most active in this regard were supporters of the Aam Admi Party (AAP). Whether or not this fledgling political unit, promising a corruption-free and transparent administration, is able to make a dent is another matter. What was interesting was the massive and widespread involvement of the diaspora in their election effort.
Hundreds of AAP chapters sprung up across the globe within a matter of weeks. The party encouraged each of these units to “adopt” a Lok Sabha constituency to campaign for its candidates. So you had NRIs from Seattle in the United States seeking votes for Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar who was contesting from Mumbai North-East. The campaign of another activist-candidate, Rachna Dhingra, who has been working for rehabilitation of Bhopal gas tragedy victims, was propped up by University Students for AAP (US for AAP).
AAP’s ‘Support a State’ campaign in the Lok Sabha polls was inspired by the ‘Support a Constituency’ initiative adopted during the Delhi assembly elections in December 2013 with considerable success. The party found that it won in over 70 per cent of constituencies adopted by NRI teams consisting of nearly 4,000 supporters across the globe who assist in fund-raising, running call campaigns, social media outreach and publicity.
The importance of NRIs campaigning in person or through social media was not lost on the ‘big boys’ – Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - as well. Thousands of posts and blogs, hundreds of chatrooms and dozens of google hangouts were buzzing with election messages. Whether, it was the Congress supporters’ “Rahul for India” battle cry or the BJP’s “Abki Baar Modi Sarkar” slogan, the net was jingling with politics.
Speaking of the net, there was this team of NRI management consultants that came up with a website ‘www.netamaker.com’ that provides relevant information on politicians and gives opportunity to evaluate politicians by certain parameters that are relevant to the electorate, thus moving towards issue-based campaign and candidate selection process from a mostly rhetoric-driven campaign process.
To enable voters to make an informed choice while voting, the website rated them on ten parameters which included their ability to prevent corruption, control price rise, ensure women’s safety, job creation, law and order, infrastructure development, communal harmony, delivering on poll promises and uplift of the poor besides their criminal history if any.
With the debate over allowing NRIs to vote from abroad posted for another day, some of the more enthusiastic ones actually flew in not just to vote but also to jump on the campaign bandwagon.
Airport officials in Kerala were reported by the local media as noticing a much heavier rush of passengers from the Gulf region during election time. With flights coming in full, Kochi airport actually faced a shortage of luggage trolleys. The number of passengers is said to have gone up by a good 10 per cent of the daily average. Of the 11,844 persons who registered as NRI voters online, 11,400 were from Kerala.
The BJP, with a large supporter base abroad had claimed that more than 5,000 of its overseas campaigners would be actively deployed. Media reports, however, took note of around 700 who actually turned up at various locations in Gujarat. Under the banners of different organizations such as Overseas Friends of BJP, Global Indians for Bharat Vikas, and Asian American Store Owners’ Association, took a break from their jobs and professions to pitch in for Narendra Modi. One of the leaders of the NRI teams in Gujarat was a highly distinguished medical professional from Chicago Dr Bharat Barai, a winner of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honour.
A large number were also deployed in Karnataka and led by Chandrakant Yatnatti, an NRI from Bagalkot. The volunteers were mainly from California, Arizona and New Jersey.
NRIs have also been addressing meetings in various parts of the country including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and other states appealing people to vote for Modi.
Some NRIs went a step further and actually thre their hat in the electoral ring. Maya Vishwakarma, a medical researcher, left her PhD at the University of California midway to take the political plunge at Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh. She was the AAP candidate here.
Buchanna Gajula, who holds a master’s degree in computer science and lived in Washington DC, filed his nomination as a BJP candidate from Pedapalli Lok Sabha seat. Another NRI, Darisi Pavan Kumar, a businessman based in the United States, is a Congress candidate for the Ongole constituency. Kamaal Rasshid Khan a small-time actor who lives in Dubai, is contesting against Congress veteran Gurudas Kamath from Mumbai South-West on a Samajwadi Party ticket.
Proddatur Ramana Reddy, who campaigned among the Indian community in Washington DC in favour of US President Barack Obama during the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, filed nomination for Nizamabad urban assembly constituency on an AAP ticket.
The Peninsula
