Modi 3.0: Indian-Americans to celebrate the swearing-in event in 22 US cities
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Thousands of Indian-Americans, who support Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, will celebrate his oath-taking ceremony for a third consecutive term on Sunday across 22 cities in the United States.
The Modi supporters will celebrate the event in a big way, a senior leader from Overseas Friends of BJP-USA, said, the media reported on Saturday.
The new government of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Modi, will take office after President Draupadi Murmu administers the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers on Sunday evening.
The celebrations in American cities, including New York, Jersey City, Washington DC, Boston, Tampa, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, would be spread over the current and the coming weekends.
Victory celebrations are being held from this Friday to next Sunday across these cities in the US, OFBJP-USA President Adapa Prasad said.
During the election campaign, OFBJP-USA and its members conducted several awareness campaigns, ranging from car rallies to calling people in India, and across the US.
Winning 240 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, the BJP has emerged as the single largest party. This is the first time since 1962, after the first PM Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, that a sitting PM has been voted back to power for the third consecutive term. None of the other PMs, not even Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi or grandson Rajiv Gandhi, could earn this distinction.
This is a historic occasion and a proud moment for all Indians, said Chandrakant Patel, former president of OFBJP-USA, who is hosting the first of the series of victory celebrations in Tampa, Florida.
Once the new government settles, Prasad said, OFBJP-USA would launch an advocacy campaign to strengthen the India-US relationship. “We would mobilize the Indian diaspora to strengthen the India-US relationship,” he said.
The group would also reach out to the PM to appoint an NRI Commissioner as the point person for all the issues related to overseas Indians and the diaspora.
A large number of Indians living overseas are facing problems related to issues like properties and matching their bank signatures.
“We are seeking an NRI Commission which would be the point person for all issues related to us,” he said.
Voting rights for NRIs is another issue that OFBJP-USA will take up with the new government. At present, an NRI must travel to India to exercise the right to franchise, which is very expensive, he noted.
Results of India’s mammoth Lok Sabha elections, announced on June 4, showed the ruling NDA being re-elected to power for a historic third consecutive term. It also showed a resurgence in the seats held by an Opposition coalition led by the Congress.
