(Image source from: The Economic Times)

As general elections in India is ongoing, Indians across the world are making every effort to make their favorite leader win. This elections, Indians abroad are to a great extent getting involved in campaigning.

A group of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in Houston organized a flash mob dance to galvanize support for various political parties.

On Saturday evening at the crowded Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston downtown, the supporters of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi organized flash mob dance donning 'Namo Again' T-Shirts, waving tricolor and dancing on the tunes of 'Namo Namo' song.

The saffron-clad volunteers have been working inexhaustibly asking people to support Modi for a second term. The volunteers are organizing 'Chai Pe Charcha' meetings, making calls to voters in India and organizing attention-getting Bollywood flash mobs to reach people back home, organizers said.

Up to now the overseas friends of BJP United States of America (OFBJP USA) has reached more than 5,000 voters through direct phone calls, they said.

"Receiving a call from a concerned NRI leaves a special impression on the voter and he/she gets encouraged to participate in the elections as we push for every voter to go out and vote," Achalesh Amar, one of the volunteers leading this campaign, told PTI.

"These supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi clearly believe that support can be shown anywhere, whether onlookers can vote in the coming Lok Sabha elections or not. After all, there is always social media," said Madhukar Adi, a BJP volunteer, who organized the flash mob dance Saturday.

Gitesh Desai, the 2019 Pravasi Bhartiya Samman winner, and coordinator for NRI4MODI2019 in Houston, said, "the weekly callathon is one of the many activities we have undertaken to support Modi and the BJP for the 2019 general election of India."

Indian American BJP supporters had a global callathon this weekend. "This was joined by multiple cities in the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, and Australia at the same time," Amar said.

Supporters of the Indian National Congress are also organizing similar events in support of their party. They are engaging the Indian electorate, by participating in phone banks from New Jersey to California, or by being physically present in India.

Mohinder Singh Gilzian, the new president of Indian Overseas Congress USA, told PTI over the phone from New York, that the "upcoming elections in India are very critical, and we are planning to send teams of volunteers so that we can make a difference."

"We will also strive to create a strong social media presence to challenge the misinformation campaign that is waged by the opposition," he said.

"Our country is indeed in a crisis, and as NRIs, we need to step up, be united and defeat this regime in this upcoming election. It is essential that as NRIs who are living in every part of the world, we fight all forms of bigotry and hatred and bring the country back where the government can focus on development and prosperity for all its citizens," he said.

By Sowmya Sangam