These NRIs sport saffron scarves and caps with BJP slogans

AHMEDABAD: A thousand non-resident Indians (NRIs) are campaigning in various parts of Gujarat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

These NRIs sport saffron scarves, caps with the ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ mantra, and T-shirts with slogans such as ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’. They hold meetings with people in villages and distribute pamphlets that list Modi’s initiatives.

Thirty-nine-year-old Nirav Patel is campaigning at Bhuvaldi which falls in the Kheda Lok Sabha constituency, about 15km from his Ahmedabad residence in Maninagar. Patel, who runs an IT company in Chicago in the Unites States, is visiting for Gujarat for ten days. “We have seen the image of India transforming under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership,” said Patel. “In PM Modi , India has a world leader. We want India to continue growing under his strong leadership.”

These canvassing NRIs have come from the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and some African countries.

Naren Mehta, 73, who runs a manufacturing business in Kampala in Uganda, says he is impressed by Modi’s policy decisions, especially the Swacch Bharat initiative.

Dr Indravadan Patel, 82, a physician from Chicago, has raised funds in the US for the Statue of Unity project. Hailing from an area near Kalol, Patel will campaign in Kheda, Mehsana and Gandhinagar constituencies in the next ten days.

From organizing ‘chai pe charcha’ events to holding bike rallies to support Modi, NRIs like Naresh Chavda, who lives in Canada, have been canvassing for Modi in foreign countries.

Anar Mehta, an NRI from Boston, says she backs Modi for the women empowerment programmes carried out in his tenure. She speaks of the Beti Bachao Abhiyaan, startup initiatives, and the Ujjawala Yojana.



In Video: 1,000 NRIs return to promote PM Narendra Modi on his home turf