The tristate area reverberated with chants of “Modi”, “Modi,” as supporters took to the streets May 16 to celebrate the historic win by the Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party. Many stayed up all night to celebrate the win with victory parties, processions and distribution of chai and sweets. Calling the victory “a Diwali moment for us,” Chandrakant Patel, president of Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP), in an email, urged all non-resident Indians to celebrate this “historic moment for India” by lighting “diyas” at their homes, community centers and temples.
Several joined in echoing OFBJP’s sentiment and came out in large numbers May 16 to express their joy in the election results and usher a new beginning and change for the country.
In Jersey City, hundreds attended a victory party hosted by Rajbhog Sweets on Newark Avenue. Applying holi colors on one another, Modi supporters were jubilant as they danced to popular Gujarati tunes, while the women were seen playing garba. In Edison, Sukhadia foods distributed free snacks and sweets to celebrate Modi’s win.
“I am very happy that the next government in New Delhi comes with an unambiguous mandate,” Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh, publisher of Desi Talk and recipient of the Padma Shri award, who attended the Jersey City celebration said.
“After nearly two decades of coalition governments, it is a relief to think that there will be a stable government that can take serious decisions. I think people of India have decided that a decisive leader like Narendra Modi must be given a decisive mandate. Mr. Modi has asked for it and he got it. Now he must deliver. I am confident he will,” he added.
BJP and Modi supporters held election watch parties at the Times Square as well as at Royal Albert’s Palace in Edison, N.J., where supporters came in large numbers to witness the epic moment.
“It is a very proud moment to see India and Indians portray democracy in the true sense and make all of us proud of the world’s largest democracy,” Ankur Shah, president of the Federation of Indian Associations of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, told Desi Talk. Vaidya, along with the FIA, who was at the helm of the Times Square event, said the world was eagerly watching the mammoth exercise of over 850 million Indians exercise their right to vote. “Under the leadership of the newly elected prime minister, India will witness never before seen progress and prosperity,” he added.
However, several Indian-Americans, in spite of the joy, expressed concern for the BJP, realizing the tough road that lies ahead for the new government. According to Dr. Tushar Patel, 50, of Princeton, the election results were not surprising.
“The initial euphoria and enthusiasm of the landslide victory in people of India and PIO in the world will not last more than few days,” he told Desi Talk.
However, the BJP-led government will have tough challenges and road blocks of corruption, inflation and wellbeing of lower middle and the poor, he warned. The hard working farmers, small business owners and middle class workers in the country have been ignored since India’s Independence, he said, noting that it is time to see what kind of steps the government will take and how the changes will be implemented to take India in a different direction of corruption free and prosperity.
“Hope the government will keep every citizen including minorities in mind to make some bold and unpopular steps which can benefit to the country for the upcoming years in 21st century,” he added.
Indian-Americans across a broad section of society seem to agree with Dr. Tushar Patel. “Change is good for the economy and financial growth of country,” said Anil Kale, 45, an IT manager from South Brunswick, N.J.
Describing the election results as a “great change which was long overdue,” Kale said he looks forward to seeing India evolve under the new government.
“The expectation among NRIs is that whichever is the new government, we hope that the government works for people and not the other way around,” Viplav Reddy of Edison, N.J., told Desi Talk.” Any government that does not live by that creed, it will have a short lived power, at most five years.” According to Reddy, after seeing 10 years of rule by the Congress, many voters seem to want change.
For some, the election results were as important as the entire process of elections, which they followed with a keen interest. Col. (Retd.) Virendra Thavathia of Edison, N.J., in his Facebook status congratulated the people of India, especially those from Uttar Pradesh who rejected the corruption tainted Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajvadi Party (SP).
“The one thing, I liked of this election, especially in Uttar Pradesh, is BSP drawing a blank and SP being reduced to single digit,” Tavathia wrote on his Facebook wall. “These two parties have looted the state and divided the state,” he said. Thanking his Muslim and Dalit “brothers” who voted as Indians, and did not fall to become the vote bank of Congress, SP and BSP, he expressed hope that the entire nation takes the lead from these voters.
“Together as Indians we stand, divided as Hindus, Muslims, upper castes and Dalits we fall. Let us stop this trend now and forever,” he added.
At the same time, those who supported the newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party or the Congress, also expressed hope in Modi’s governance and expected faster and better growth for the country. Arvind Singh, 43, an IT programmer in Boston, Mass., told Desi Talk that AAP’s dismal performance seems to confirm that a majority of India believes there is no real point in shaking up a functional system. “Why fix what ain’t broken,” seems to be the mantra, Singh said.
Several Indian-American groups also released statements congratulating Modi and the BJP and expressing optimism with the victory. The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) congratulated the people of India on participating in the world’s largest exercise in democracy.
“We applaud the Indian people for voting in record numbers in democratic elections that were widely regarded as free and fair,” Samir Kalra, HAF’s director and Senior Fellow for Human Rights said in the statement. “We look forward to working with representatives of the new government to strengthen U.S. – India relations, promote human rights and pluralism, and address issues of concern to the Hindu diaspora,” he added.
“The people of India today stand poised to unleash their immense potential for the good of the country and global progress towards peace, no poverty, and good health for all,” a statement from the U.S.-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) said. “The Indian Diasporas and friends of India in the United States and across the world cheer and send our best of wishes to the people of India, and the leadership of Mr. Narendra Modi,” USINPAC chairman Sanjay Puri said.
A similar congratulatory message was issued by the Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC).
“The people of India have spoken and they have thrown in their lot with BJP-led NDA and their verdict ought to be respected by all,” said George Abraham, INOC chairman. “It is also a tribute to India that has proven beyond any doubt that it is a vibrant democracy that facilitates a peaceful transition of power looks rather easy,” he said.
However, the Coalition Against Genocide (CAG), a broad alliance dedicated to justice and accountability for the Gujarat pogroms of 2002 and to defending India’s secular tradition, vowed to “continue the struggle for justice despite Modi victory” and to “uphold India’s secular ethos.” In a statement issued May 16, coalition spokesperson Shaik Ubaid said, “Modi’s ascent to the highest executive office in India is rightly a matter of concern for all who value human rights and religious freedom.”