Overseas Friends of BJP urges diaspora to build stronger India

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News Bharati English    21-Dec-2014
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Anaheim (California), Dec 21: Still riding the momentum of Narendra Modi’s electoral victory as India’s prime minister in May, the Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP) convened at the Hilton Garden Inn and M3 Live performance hall here for its first-ever United States convention from Dec 12-14.

More than 200 BJP and Modi supporters attended the weekend convention, which featured a combination of meetings, seminar discussions and cultural performances.

The heart of the U.S. convention, which was organized by the OFBJP-USA’s Los Angeles chapter, took place Dec. 13, with an inauguration, panel discussions and a cultural show.

Chandrakant Patel, president of OFBJP’s United States operation, said the weekend convention was essential in gaining and maintaining support from the Diaspora to help strengthen India’s presence on the global stage.

“We want to make sure our organization is strong in the United States. After Modiji gained power in India, the country is changing. The Diaspora understands the change.

The Diaspora has a lot of potential. They are educated, they are financially strong, and they can make a lot of contributions. With this convention, we want to appeal to the Diaspora, let them know how they can help build a stronger India,” Patel told India-West.

Echoing similar sentiments, Vijay Chauthaiwale, the head of BJP’s foreign and overseas networks who participated in the convention from India, said the weekend event was vital to the party’s growth and evolution.

“In the context of Mr. Modi’s win in India, we are now trying to re-orient and re-organize Overseas Friends of BJP so they serve the interest of the Indian population here and as well as overall Indian interests,” Chauthaivale told India-West, adding that the party hopes to leverage the successes of the Diaspora population to help impact policymaking in Delhi. “We want to leverage all these strengths so that Mr. Modi’s program of development and governance is benefited.”

Chauthaivale also said Modi wasted no time in establishing diplomatic ties with regional and international powers, and has already visiting countries such as Nepal, the United States, and several Southeast Asian countries.

He added that both Modi and the BJP “would like to have a peaceful co-existence with Pakistan” if both nations could come to some sort of terms regarding certain extreme actions of offshoot interests.

Making no distinction between NRIs and those living on the motherland, activist and OFBJP central committee member Kavita Ashok said she believes India will make significant progress – particularly in women empowerment – during Modi’s tenure as prime minister.

“It’s not about giving [women] livelihood, it’s also empowerment of the mind. That comes first, the psyche. The first step is to understand your own dignity and your own self-respect. The education comes after,” Ashok told India-West.

Attending the evening festivities on Dec. 13, Anaheim councilman James Vanderbilt presented P.K. Nayak, the coordinator of OFBJP’s Los Angeles chapter, with an official resolution from the city and welcomed the convention to Southern California.

“The Overseas Friends of BJP brings together many types of people,” Vanderbilt said, commending OFBJP for bridging multiple cultures in both India and the United States. “This is how our country was founded. We come together, we grow strong, we share ideas, and we find more and better solutions.”

Some of the key topics discussed during the plenary sessions on Dec. 13 included health care, small business economics, entrepreneurship, taxation in India and the United States, women empowerment, humanity and spiritualism, and the investment landscape in India.

During the culture show, several of India’s greatest cultural assets were on display, including Bollywood, Kathak and Bharatnatyam dance performances.

According to Nayak, the convention’s theme was “to mobilize the Diaspora for the better future of the country.”