BJP says ties with India enjoy bipartisan support in US, asks members to vote as per personal choice

Asserting bipartisan support in the US, BJP directed the Indian BJP diaspora to vote for the President as per personal choice. The party is of the stance that they are happy for Kamala Harris being the Vice Presidential nominee, but still, leave the domestic politics of the country uninterrupted.

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party has asked its members in the US to not use the party's name in the presidential polls there, asserting that the India-US ties enjoy bipartisan support in that country.

The unambiguous directive to the Overseas Friends of BJP-USA from the party's Foreign Affairs Department head Vijay Chauthaiwale is apparently aimed at allaying any impression that India's ruling party favours any candidate in the US polls, in which President Donald Trump of the Republican Party is pitted against Democratic Party's Joe Biden.

"The OFBJP-USA members can participate in the US election campaign and support any candidate or a party in their personal capacity but they have been instructed not to use BJP or OFBJP name during the campaign", directed Chauthaiwale to Indian BJP diaspora. He said India and the US have "deep strategic relations" which has bipartisan support in the US and enjoys "overwhelming public support" in India."We are confident that this partnership will grow from strength to strength in future too," he added.

It may also be noted that the Republican campaign has used visuals of Trump's participation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in huge public meetings like 'Howdy Modi', which happened in September 2019 in Houston, and 'Namaste Trump', which was held in February this year, to woo the Indian diaspora.

Read: There is chance of US-India 'mini trade deal' before presidential election: Top American diplomat

Chauthaiwale mailed the directive to the US chapter of the party on July 24, as both parties began to intensify their campaign for the presidential election in November. With Biden naming Indian-origin Kamala Harris as his party's vice presidential nominee, the BJP leader said, "We are naturally happy that someone with Indian ancestry is contesting the second topmost post in the USA." He, however, added, "At the same time, we believe that any election is solely a domestic process of that country and BJP has no role whatsoever in the process."

He also noted that the OFBJP-USA has voluntarily registered itself as an official representative of the BJP under FARA and wondered if the US chapter of the Congress too will register itself under the US law. Its registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) means that the OFBJP-USA can officially represent the BJP in that country.

PTI