New York: Gujarati NRIs in the US have welcomed BJP and Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s landslide victory in the state Assembly elections and view him as a good administrator under whom Gujarat is expected to continue its progress march.
"We welcome Modi's poll victory and support him because he has done a wonderful job in developing Gujarat," president of the Federation of Gujarati Associations in North America, Kailash C Patel, said.
Patel, however, refused to comment on the communal taint against Modi's name.
President of the Gujarati Samaj of Tampa Bay area in Florida, Dinesh Gandhi said the Gujarat poll result was a victory for democracy as well as for Modi whose performance at the helm in Gujarat has been outstanding.
"Modi's return to power proves that he is not a fluke," Gandhi said, adding, "He is the reason that for the first time every Gujarati in India and outside can feel proud."
Calling him a leader of the 21st century, Gandhi said Modi's organisational capacity and charisma would push him to the national scene.
Gandhi strongly felt that Modi's victory in a democratic process is a slap on the face of the powers-that-be in Washington who had refused him a visa. "Now we will like to see and welcome him here in the US," he said.
In the run-up to the Gujarat polls, a few group of Modi supporters and pro-Hindutva votaries in the US had sent mass emails and taken out ads exhorting NRIs to tell their family and friends in Gujarat to support Modi.
Meanwhile, Modi's win has disappointed minority and secular groups.
George Abraham, general secretary of the Indian National Overseas Congress and member of 'NRIs for Secular and Harmonious India', which had appealed to Gujaratis to "vote with your conscience", told IANS, "Democracy is not just about winning elections but also about social justice and minority rights. The struggle on that front is far from over in Gujarat."
Abraham also disputed the development story in Gujarat, calling it over-emphasised. "There are many indices like minimum wages and investments where the state is lagging behind," he said.
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