A group of 60 wealthy Gujarati NRIs have flown in to spread the word that voters must back PM Narendra Modi an... Read More

(This story originally appeared in on Dec 9, 2017)

AHMEDABAD: Together, they are perhaps the most unusual group of campaigners in Gujarat’s high voltage polls — a group of 60 wealthy Gujarati NRIs who have flown in to, as they say, spread the word that voters must back Prime Minister Narendra Modi and not be swayed by “misleading forces”.

They are in their home state on their own dime, they said, and many, said BJP leaders off record, know the PM personally from his days as the state’s chief minister.

Their professions range from doctors and pharmacists to businessmen and technology executives.

Jashubhai Patel, 51, a surgeon from California, US has his ancestral home in Vadnagar, which used to be Modi’s consti tuency in assembly polls. Patel told ET, Modi has given a “unified identity” to Indians abroad.

“The way he has taken Hindutva to the world, from yoga to Indian way of simple living, everyone is looking up to us. I tell voters to strengthen him. Life was very difficult for us when we were growing up in Gujarat. Narendrabhai took Gujarat out of the misery of both caste politics and underdevelopment,” he said.

Patel who hails from the Patidar community said he specifically has reached out to voters from his community urging them not to fall for fake promises made by others.

“We as a community have come up striving hard. Let’s not ruin that by asking for reservation . Quality and merit is important for the nation to grow.”

Jashubhai says he has known Modi since the latter was a RSS pracharak in Ahmedabad. “I have known him for years. He does nothing for himself. Growth and welfare of the poor is his only concern.”

BJP foreign affairs head Vijay Chauthaiwale, who is currently in charge of the party’s social media campaign in Gujarat, said: “Some NRIs have come to Gujarat and are campaigning for BJP. Others, who can’t spare time to visit India, are part of our social media messengers. They are also making calls to their friends and family back home to urge them to vote for BJP. All these efforts are purely on voluntary basis. People visiting India and campaigning are doing at their own expense. All these efforts show their great affection for BJP and PM Modiji.”

Bharat Barai, an oncologist who was among NRIs who arranged Modi’s Madison Square, New York, address to Indian-Americans is also in Gujarat to campaign for BJP. Vasudev Patel, a toxicologist from Atlanta, has already been to nine constituencies.

“I tell people I can’t vote here. I can’t contest from here but I came here to campaign for Modi because I love this country and I want it to grow.” “We left this country because there were no opportunities but Narendrabhai is trying to change that.

He is doing something good and all of us should support him.” Patel said ever since Narendra Modi took over as the PM, Indian students in the US have “one of their leaders” as part of their assignments, rather than writing about American and other countries’ leaders all the time. Dinesh Desai, a pharmacist from New Jersey, and Ramji Patel, a businessman from Los Angeles, are among other wealthy NRIs who have flown in. At Dharmaj, Badal Patel said the state’s so-called NRI village has voted for BJP for decades.

“The PM also reminded the world in one of his speeches about the advancements we have made in the village. We have 13 bank branches in our village. Congress has never been taken seriously by us.”

