Congratulatory messages continue to pour in
CHICAGO: India Post continued to be inundated with congratulatory messages from Indian-Americans across the US following the massive victory of the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 general elections in India last month.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 353 of the 542 Lok Sabha seats that went to the polls with the BJP alone accounting for 303. Modi and his team of ministers took oath of office in a glittering ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan May 30.
And Indian-Americans could not have enough of it as the stream of congratulatory messages show,
Kiran Patel, a front ranking community activist and a philanthropist from Tampa Florida, said that he and Indian-Americans here were ecstatic over Indian electorate sending Modi and his BJP back to power with a thumping majority while showing total disdain for false pre-election propaganda and hotchpotch get together of political parties known as Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance).
“Indian people once again showed that they are mature and could not be trifled with,” Patel said.
“Modi has won with lot of expectations from Indians in India and the world over,” he said. “One of the most important for Modi, in my opinion, is eradicating poverty. Close to 30 per cent of the Indian population live below the poverty line and the new government would do a good job if it succeeds in bringing a good number from this class above the poverty line.”
According to Patel, the new government should also lay extra emphasis on providing good quality education, especially in the technological and science fields.
“We have a very intelligent class among our youth and this class who could be a powerhouse for the supply of skill and hard work not only in India but for the world as well,” he said
Sudhir Brahmbhatt, President of Center for Indian Cultural Education, BalVihar,in St Louis, Missouri, said that there was no election in the world as big as the one that took taking place in India with 600 million people voting and more than 8,000 candidates in the fray.
“The voters have clearly indicated their choice by electing the BJP after being fed up with fake promises and corruption,” Brahmbhatt said.
“Modi’s agenda ever since he took office as Prime Minister was on how to alleviate the lives of the poor and the middle class,” he said, adding that Modi’s strong action against terrorists was also endorsed by the voters.
Referring to the India’s stock market shooting up after he Modi government’s return to power, he said that tax compliance is increasing as and there seemed to be a reinforcement of rule of law
“For the first time, generations of micro, small, medium enterprises, are paying taxes, which are, actually, formally putting out numbers and making tax calculations. This transition will take time. This is just a different way of doing business,” Brahmbhatt said.
Chandrakant Patel, a leading businessman in Dallas heading banks and motels, observed that the BJP got the 303 Seats mainly because of Modi’s leadership and party president Amit Shah’s organizational skills
He said Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s inexperience and his personal attacks on Modi turned off many voters including many within his party itself.
“Now that BJP is in power once again, it is time to fulfil some of the unfinished promises made during the last five years,” Patel said.
“In my opinion, attacking unemployment rate and drastically reducing population below poverty line should be the top two priorities.”
Hina Trivedi, a community activist associated with Lions Club and other social organizations in Chicagoland, said that the new government would do well to address many an issue that women in India suffer from.
“The government should take more steps to open up more jobs for women and also for college students as that would help them advance in their careers,” Trivedi said.
Prabhakar Patel of Dada Bhagwan Group of Chicago along with others in the Dada group celebrated the 2019 election victory Modi second in Barrington, a Chicago suburb and also hailed the release of the movie PM Narendra Modi.
Patel observed that Modi is a harbinger of good times for India in coming days.
Voicing similar feelings, the colleagues of Patel said that the new government would do well to take care of the downtrodden and marginalized people of the country.
Nirav Virani, young Indian-American community activist, described Modi’s victory as “truly remarkable”.
“To be a truly historic and progressive Prime Minister, he (Modi) needs to be very mindful in building a strong Indian community with a strong sense of nationhood that goes beyond petty thinking and narrow issues which divided the nation and the community in the past,” Virani said. ”I look forward to Modi building an India that is progressive, inclusive, and innovative in the global order.”
