Modi win: Champagne flows in US
Seldom has a state assembly election in India generated as much interest among the Indian Americans as the Gujarat polls have this time.
As results started pouring in, Indian Americans across the country remained glued to television sets and computers for live election results from Gujarat.
And as the verdict became clear, BJP supporters were seen opening champagne bottles to celebrate yet another victory for Narendra Modi.
''This will set the trend for national politics. Our next goal is Delhi,'' said Chandra Kant Patel, a former president of the Overseas Friends of the BJP.
A large number of community members had gathered at the Tampa residence of Dinesh Gandhi, president of the Tampa Bay Gujarat Samaj.
And no sooner had the BJP taken a substantial lead over the Congress, that champagne flowed. ''This is our way of celebrating. I am sure Modi will take Gujarat to a new level of development,'' Gandhi said.
In the Indian-American-dominated neighborhoods of Jersey City and Oak Tree Road in New Jersey and Jackson Height in New York, a number of restaurants remained opened till beyond midnight allowing patrons to watch live election results on television screens, a service usually brought on only for cricket matches.
''There was a lot of excitement among the people. So we decided to keep the restaurant open so that people can watch the election results live. It is all business for us,'' said the manager of the Dosa Hut in Jersey City.
Dr Rajesh Dave, who comes from Maninagar in Ahmadabad, the constituency of Narendra Modi, too celebrated the victory with champagne. ''We have to, this is a victory for the development of Gujarat,'' he said.
Jyoti Ben, who runs a convenience store and a motel, said: ''After so many decades, it is Modi who brought Gujarat to the limelight. It is the victory of nationalism and development clubbed together.''
A strong Modi-supporter Harish Arora, who comes from the Tarapur village near Anand and has been staying in the US for the past 18 years said Modi had touched the lives of the people of the state. ''He is very popular among the NRIs,'' he said.
Many of the Modi-supporters and members of pro-Hindutva groups in the US had gone to Gujarat to campaign for the BJP this time, while a group of NRIs had launched a pro-Modi campaign from the US by sending mass emails, booking full-page advertisements in newspapers and making mass telephone calls to their friends and relatives in Gujarat.
''Now it is time for victory celebrations. These will be held all over the country. We will announce the details soon,'' Chandrakant Patel said as he sat with a group of friends late Saturday night local time discussing the BJP victory in Gujarat.
As results started pouring in, Indian Americans across the country remained glued to television sets and computers for live election results from Gujarat.
And as the verdict became clear, BJP supporters were seen opening champagne bottles to celebrate yet another victory for Narendra Modi.
''This will set the trend for national politics. Our next goal is Delhi,'' said Chandra Kant Patel, a former president of the Overseas Friends of the BJP.
A large number of community members had gathered at the Tampa residence of Dinesh Gandhi, president of the Tampa Bay Gujarat Samaj.
And no sooner had the BJP taken a substantial lead over the Congress, that champagne flowed. ''This is our way of celebrating. I am sure Modi will take Gujarat to a new level of development,'' Gandhi said.
In the Indian-American-dominated neighborhoods of Jersey City and Oak Tree Road in New Jersey and Jackson Height in New York, a number of restaurants remained opened till beyond midnight allowing patrons to watch live election results on television screens, a service usually brought on only for cricket matches.
''There was a lot of excitement among the people. So we decided to keep the restaurant open so that people can watch the election results live. It is all business for us,'' said the manager of the Dosa Hut in Jersey City.
Dr Rajesh Dave, who comes from Maninagar in Ahmadabad, the constituency of Narendra Modi, too celebrated the victory with champagne. ''We have to, this is a victory for the development of Gujarat,'' he said.
Jyoti Ben, who runs a convenience store and a motel, said: ''After so many decades, it is Modi who brought Gujarat to the limelight. It is the victory of nationalism and development clubbed together.''
A strong Modi-supporter Harish Arora, who comes from the Tarapur village near Anand and has been staying in the US for the past 18 years said Modi had touched the lives of the people of the state. ''He is very popular among the NRIs,'' he said.
Many of the Modi-supporters and members of pro-Hindutva groups in the US had gone to Gujarat to campaign for the BJP this time, while a group of NRIs had launched a pro-Modi campaign from the US by sending mass emails, booking full-page advertisements in newspapers and making mass telephone calls to their friends and relatives in Gujarat.
''Now it is time for victory celebrations. These will be held all over the country. We will announce the details soon,'' Chandrakant Patel said as he sat with a group of friends late Saturday night local time discussing the BJP victory in Gujarat.
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