A senior Indian politician from Bihar and former minister has urged his compatriots in the Kingdom to come forward to support the idea of inclusive growth in India.

Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi called upon them to play their significant role in opposing communalism from various platforms.

He said the issue of postal ballot for overseas Indians was under consideration. “There is a need to speed up its implementation as electronic voting system is in place now and online voting can be allowed,” he said. “After all, Indians working here are contributing handsomely to the Indian economy through their remittances.”

In his message to Indian community, he said: “You are the real ambassadors of India in Saudi Arabia and you are the main reason for the growing ties between the two countries.”

Talking about Indian politics, he said there was a possibility of the merger of Janata Dal factions. “The purpose is to defeat communalism in India,” he said.

He indicated his return to Lalu Prasad Yada’vs Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). “I am in close contact with Lalu Prasad,” he said.

“We discussed a range of issues and have reached consensus ... Expect an announcement soon.”

Fatmi said he always stood against divisive politics in India.

He pointed out that the RJD and the JD(U) of Nitish Kumar were working closely to fight communal forces. “The two leaders are working with an affirmative approach, and the idea is to contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections together and then they will bring into their fold other factions headed by Navin Patniak (Biju Janata Dal), Ajit Singh (Lok Dal) and H.D. Deve Gowda (JD-S),” Fatmi said.

“With this arrangement, they will defeat communal forces in the Hindi heartland in the north,” he said.

Taking a potshot at the recent Cabinet expansion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that the new ministers were inducted keeping in mind the forthcoming assembly elections. “Underprivileged sections were kept at bay,” he said.