Dear Editor,
This is in reference to your editorial “India Elections” (November 8). I travel to India regularly (and Indian diaspora societies like Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad, Durban, et cetera as part of my ongoing studies) and keenly follow its political development in my readings as well is in my conversations with academics and politicians.
Everywhere I went, people have been clamouring for political change in India.
In conversations, they told me they are fed up with the ruling poor Congress-led UP government over poor governance and massive corruption.
The opposition BJP is the largest beneficiary of the disenchantment with the Congress. They want change. People are very supportive of Narendra Modi, the charismatic photogenic prime ministerial candidate of the BJP. In my recent travels to Toronto, Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad, Aruba, England, Holland, Frankfurt, Paris and around the U. S., most of the Indian diaspora express support for Modi. The Indo-Guyanese diaspora in the U. S. and Canada also back Modi. And in Guyana, Indo-Guyanese and Indian nationals also favour Modi.
People overwhelmingly feel he will help to transform India, reducing corruption and servicing the needs of the people. Much hope is placed on him also to advocate for the interests of the Indian diaspora.
The Indo-Caribbean diaspora in America know Modi very well and he knows the diaspora very well having travelled to several countries to meet with the Indian communities. He was very supportive of Guyanese during the struggle against the dictatorship. He sympathised with us and is familiar with our persecution in Guyana during the dictatorship.
Also, we interacted with him several times when he visited America right after he became chief minister of Gujarat. He has been one of a few chief ministers of India who interacts with Indo-Caribbean people. I met him several times since January 2003 at the annual Pravasi Divas that was initiated by the BJP. Recent polls show Modi as the most popular political leader in India and that he will lead the opposition to victory in the general elections due by May.
The India Today Group-ORG opinion poll in four states holding elections through December predicts victories for Modi (lead campaigner for BJP).
The survey conducted in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi (Mizoram, which also goes to vote, has not been covered in this survey) shows that the BJP is reaping the dividends of better investment in Modi’s leadership.
Not surprisingly, the Congress wants to ban the publication of opinion polls.
The assembly elections in the five states are being seen as the semi-final to the 2014 general elections.
In Delhi, the BJP has an edge over the Congress and all others. The poll gives BJP 36 seats, Congress 22 and Aam Aadmi Party eight.
In Madhya Pradesh, for example, nearly 60 per cent want the re-election of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has been at the helm since 2005.
In Chhattisgarh, 56 per cent want to give incumbent Chief Minister Raman Singh a third stint despite conceding that insurgency continues to haunt the state.
Perhaps, Singh’s governance is more reflected in popular schemes, like the one-rupee rice scheme – the precursor of the food security bill.
In Rajasthan, Congress Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s is facing head winds. Fifty-one per cent people want a change of guard here. Riding on a strong anti-incumbency wave against Gehlot, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is set to make a comeback.
But the Congress is proving to be a sore loser in the opinion polls. The party didn’t have much to say about opinion polls when it was in the lead five years ago.
Now that it is facing the Modi machine, Congress wants to shut down polls.
For those of us who understand polling, polls do not influence voters. Performance and governance shape voters mood. The Indian diaspora cannot wait for Modi to take the helm in India.
Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram