JEDDAH, RIYADH, DAMMAM, 5 December 2003 — Indian expats across the Kingdom expressed dismay and surprise over the election results in four states yesterday. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which heads the National Democratic Alliance at the federal level, has swept the poll in three states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh defeating the Congress Party, which however, has been voted to power in the fourth state — Delhi.
“We did not expect the BJP to win in three states. At best we expected it to make some headway in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Rajasthan,” Dr. Mohsin Mohamed Tahir, an MOH specialist, said in Jeddah.
“The BJP win in three states endorses the policies pursued at the national level by the NDA government at the center,” Rajan Nair, a young management executive in a food and beverage company said.
“People have voted for a change in the three states, while the Congress has been returned to power in Delhi due to the excellent work done by Chief Minister Shiela Dixit,” Laiq Hussain, a middle-aged five-star hotel executive, said. “The BJP victory especially in MP was taken for granted because of the fiery campaigning by Uma Bharati,” Saeed Quraishy, a senior executive in a communication company said.
“One big achievement of the poll is that five states in the country will now be ruled by women. Three elected now (Shiela Dixit — Delhi, Uma Bharati — MP and Vasundhara Raje — Rajasthan) will join two other women incumbents — J. Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu and Rabri Devi in Bihar,” a senior woman teacher at an international school, who chose to remain anonymous, said.
Some expats in the capital expressed their surprise over the poll results while some others felt that the BJP’s performance was not totally unexpected. Eastern Province expats felt that the anti-incumbency factor seemed to weigh against the Congress, which ruled all the four states.
Abdullah Rizvi, marketing manager, of a water proofing company in Dammam, said: “The entire election was fought on communal lines. Even the Congress in MP played the communal card, and obviously it could not outmaneuver the BJP’s tactics in the poll campaign.” Dr. Dawar Masud, chest specialist at an MOH hospital in the Eastern Province, echoed his view. “Political parties no longer indulge in issue-based politics. All of them have been playing with the religious sentiments of people in a bid to attract votes.”
Daniel Christopher, marketing executive in a transport company in the Eastern Province, said: “The only saving grace for the Congress Party is Delhi where Shiela Dixit retains her chief ministership.”
In Riyadh Ashraf Alam Shah, business development manager of a plastic company, said: “Local issues in Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh have been a deciding factor among voters.” People wanted a change and so they voted for the BJP, said Afzal Ali Jagirdar, chief financial officer at a leading industrial group of companies.
Referring to the poor performance of the Congress Party, Safdar Parvez, a sales executive, said: “The BJP exploited local issues and caste allegiance to its advantage. The results will prompt the NDA government to advance by a few months the parliamentary election due next year.”
Some expats felt that the results were contrary to some exit polls and political analyses.
(K.S. Ramkumar in Jeddah, M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan in Riyadh, Saeed Haider in Dammam)
