Our Bureau
Washington
With BJP announcing its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Overseas Friends of BJP in the US has kicked off its 2024 election campaign pledging to volunteer and contribute towards the goal of winning 400 seats in the elections.
The first list was released by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday comprising of 195 candidates out of which 51 are from Uttar Pradesh, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi.
“The Indian Diaspora is going to support the BJP in India,” Adapa Prasad, president of Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) USA said at the kick-off event, attended by about 100 core members, in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC. General elections are expected to be held in India between April and May 2024 to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha.
Indian-Americans made presentations on their analysis of the affairs in various Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
“We reviewed the progress in each of the states and had a detailed presentation on the achievements of the prime minister Narendra Modi,” he said. More than 3,000 volunteers have signed up for various election-related activities being coordinated by OFBJP.
This includes social media, phone calls, voter analysis, direct campaigning and travel to India. There are plans to make around 25 lakh calls from the US to India urging Indians to vote for the BJP and re-elect PM Modi for the third consecutive term.
Among the series of events planned across the nation, in addition to call centers, include “Modi Ki Guarantee”, “Mohalla Chai Pe Charcha”, Car Rally and Holi Milan. “We are ready. Everybody’s pumped up. Everybody’s looking forward to it. This time we will cross 400 seats for the Prime Minister. He has done so much for the country and he is loved everywhere,” said Kanwaljeet Singh Soni, convenor of the Sikh affairs wing of the OFBJP.
