New York: People should not be swayed by propaganda, but must make their choice on facts and figures, said Ms. Jaya Sundaram, president of the Tamil Nadu Chapter of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA, at a meeting held in Hicksville, Long Island, April 13.
The Tamil Nadu Chapter remained vigilant and diligent to accomplish its goals seeking people to get out to vote, especially family members and friends back home, she said.
Mr. John Joseph, the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Chapter, who is also national vice president of the IOC, USA, said that the chapter held its review and strategy planning session to take stock of its overall work, with more than 75 people attending. He noted the strategy of the chapter had established earlier to reach out to relatives, families and friends. The horrific stories going around about money laundering at high levels was scary and worrisome, he added.
Mr. Devendra Vora, president of the Maharashtra Chapter said that the families have only to look around to see how badly the the economy is performing and how it affected them in the past five years.
Mr. Ravi Chopra, president of the Finance Committee, appealed everyone to support the efforts to change the government and bring Rahul Gandhi to head the next Government.
Ms. Shalu Chopra, Chair of the women’s Committee made a passionate speech on how women were increasingly playing an active role in politics and drew everyone’s attention to the recent increase in their numbers of participation.
Mr. Mohinder Singh Gilzian, president of IOC, USA pointed out that the economic conditions were deplorable, unemployment remained high, farmers complaints were very serious, and the students in schools were beginning to take a heavy toll. Many promises made by the Modi government during their election campaigns turned out to be bogus. .
Mr. Harbachan Singh, Secretary General of IOC, USA praised the most comprehensive Manifesto of the Congress Party as a masterpiece which addressed every issue in human endeavor. It did not dwell in outlandish and unattainable propositions as contained in other manifestos. Where is the black-money and where are the fifteen Lakh rupees that were promised, he asked. Modi government began by fooling the people who over the years are now traumatized. He referred to a litany of failures and scams which plagued the administration and observed that NRI families had recently been glued to the TV and media to keep themselves appraised on the developments back home destined to bring about change in the government to ameliorate the frustrating situation.
Speaker after speaker painted a gloomy picture of the Modi government’s performance. Pradeep Samala, Vice President of IOC USA, Oommen Koshy, George Chacko, Leela Merat, Kerela Chapter President, Mathewkutty Easow, and Sophia Sharma spoke.
