Indian general election divides UAE expatriates

The country’s elections began on April 7 and are a two-way battle between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) – of which the ruling Congress Party is a part – and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Muneer Pandiyala, an Indian expat, who has lived in the UAE for a decade is a supporter of AAP in the general election. Christopher Pike / The National

ABU DHABI // Indian expatriates in the UAE want a fair, free and stable government back home which can fight corruption and ensure basic amenities for all citizens.

The elections, which began on April 7, are considered a two-way battle between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) – of which the ruling Congress Party is a part – and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seen by many as the front-runners.

Y A Rahim, president of the Indian Association in Sharjah, said he had faith in the UPA.

“I support the UPA because it has done a wonderful job in India over the past ten years,” he said.

It had introduced a right to information law, which mandates timely responses to citizen requests for government information, given rights of education to all and introduced bills empowering women and curtailing corruption, he said.

Congress also brought the Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee act, which ensures the right to work, said Mr Rahim, who is from Kerala and left the UAE on Wednesday to go home and vote.

The BJP should not be in power because of their policies of division, he said.

“So I want to see Rahul Gandhi, vice president of the Congress party, as next prime minister of India.”

The BJP’s candidate for prime minister is Narendra Modi, the Hindu chief minister of Gujarat.

Mr Modi has faced controversy for his alleged role in the violence against Muslims in 2002, which killed about a thousand people.

He was blamed for failing to stop the violence, which escalated after mobs lynched Muslims in retaliation for an attack on Hindu pilgrims. Mr Modi denied any wrong-

doing and has run on a record of jobs, infrastructure and security.

His firebrand style is often contrasted with the detached demeanour of Gandhi.

Tushar Patni, the managing director of Ajanta Jewellery in Abu Dhabi, said he was supporting Modi.

“Being a Gujarati, I support the BJP,” he said. “What I have seen is that he has done so much work for my state.”

Roads, water and electricity all needed to be improved, he said.

“I remember how Gujarat was five years ago but now it looks like a modern city,” he said. “If Mr Modi follows the same for the rest of India it would become one of the top five developed countries of the world.”

One of the smaller parties that has emerged recently is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or common man party. Led by Arvind Kejriwal, former chief minister of New Delhi, it is running on an anti-corruption platform.

Abu Dhabi resident Muneer Pandiyala, 37, who is from Kerala and has lived in the UAE for 10 years, supports the AAP.

“BJP and Congress are both full of corrupt people,” he said.

The AAP wants to break caste-based politics and ensure equal rights for all, he said.

“Corrupt politicians have plagued the entire country and looted all its resources,” he added. India is a Hindu-majority country but not all Hindus supported the BJP, he said.

Andaleeb Mannan, a marketing consultant in Abu Dhabi, said she supported Congress because of its achievements in Rajasthan, a state in the north-west. She said the party had brought a metro line there and developed the city’s infrastructure.

The AAP is new and does not have experience, and that was why it ran away after 49 days of being in power in New Delhi, she said. She was referring to the fact that 49 days after the AAP won state elections in New Delhi, Mr Kejriwal resigned when his party failed to get support for his anti-corruption bill in the assembly.

“Power should not be given to them until they have proper experience of running the government,” said Ms Mannan.

The election ends on May 12 and the results are due to be declared on May 16. With about 814 million people eligible to vote, it is the world’s biggest general election.

There are 2.2 million Indian expatriates in the UAE but they have to return home to cast their ballots.