Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) – USA, organised a function to honour Agriculture Minister of Chhattisgarh Shri Chandrasekhar Sahu and Mayor of Rajkot Shri Janakbhai Kotak. The function was held at New Brunswick in New Jersey on June 27. About 250 people attended the programme. Shri Sahu was returning from Brazil, where he led a delegation to RIO+20, a United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held at Rio de Janeiro, from June 18 to 24.

The function began with lighting the traditional lamp and paying floral tribute to the founding fathers of Jan Sangh and BJP followed by the soulful rendition of Vandemataram led by Smt Kalpana Shukla.

In his speech Shri Chandrasekhar Sahu praised the Indian American community for their contribution to the success of India. He talked about “Incredible Chhattisgarh”, a mission charted out by Dr Raman Singh led BJP Government to make the state numero-uno in the overall development. He talked about his initiatives in Agriculture sector and said Chhattisgarh is fast becoming a bio-fertilizer hub in the country. He sought the support of NRIs in the development of Chhattisgarh and invited them to attend the forthcoming Investors Meet in Chhattisgarh. He also talked briefly about the sustainable development while illustrating the importance of this idea in the progress of humanity.

Earlier, Shri Jayesh Patel, president of OFBJP-USA welcomed the gathering and recognised the community leaders as each of them honoured Shri Chandrasekhar Sahu and Shri Janakbhai Kotak. He thanked the audience for making it to the meeting despite being a working day and heavy traffic. Shri Patel talked briefly about the achievements of OFBJP in USA and listed the activities of its 21 chapters across the nation.

Shri Rakshpal Sood, senior advisory council member, said in his thoughtful speech that Kashmir is with India because of the sacrifice of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee. He also talked about the sacrifices made by Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya for the sake of the country and exhorted Indian Americans to live frugally and think big for the welfare of the society and the nation.

Later, Shri Suresh Jani, former president, introduced Shri Janakbhai Kotak. Shri Kotak talked about the massive development of Gujarat under the dynamic leadership of Shri Narendra Modi and sought the support of Gujarati expatriates for BJP in the upcoming assembly elections.

Shri Chandrakant Patel, President Elect, who also hails from Chhattisgarh, introduced the visiting minister Shri Sahu. In his introductory speech, Shri Chandrakant Patel praised Dr Raman Raman Singh led BJP government of Chhattisgarh for presenting a separate budget for Agriculture. He emphasised the special attention being paid to the Agriculture sector by the BJP Government of Chhattisgarh. Shri Patel listed out the special amenities such as smart cards, free seeds, subsidised fertilizers being given to the farmers.

Talking about Chhattisgarh’s surplus energy, he said electricity is not only given 24/7 in the state but also distributed to other states. He also revealed that Shri Sahu is representing a place (Champaran) in Chhattisgarh, where Sant Vallabhacharya Prabhu was born and he touched the philosophical bonding between Chhattisgarh and Gujarat. He also said that OFBJP would work hard for the cause of BJP among Indian American community and in India during the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat.

The programme emcee was Shri Ram Kamat, general secretary and the national treasurer Shri Krishna Reddy requested the audience to join OFBJP and be a partner in serving the community and India. Shri RP Singh, organising general secretary, Shri Arvind Patel, chapter coordinator and Shri Sandeep Patel, hotelier, also graced the podium.

Notable community leaders including Shri Chandrakant Trivedi (chairman of Brahmin Samaj of USA and former president of FIA), Shri Harish Mehta (deputy vice chair of Democratic Party-NJ, and chairman of Lions Club), Shri Himanshu Desai, Shri Jagdish Patel and presidents of various leading organisations were also present on the occasion.

Later in New York, Shri Sahu met India’s representative at UN Mission and discussed about the UN conference in Brazil. He also met the in-charge of economic affairs at Indian Consulate in New York and discussed about Chhattisgarh related issues. Subsequently, he travelled to Washington DC and met the former president of OFBJP Dr Adapa Prasad who also hails from Chhattisgarh and learned about the OFBJP activities. He visited the famous library of Congress at Capitol Hill and later met Deputy Chief of Mission at Indian Embassy, Shri Arun Singh, to discuss about the outcomes of UN conference before departing to India.                   

(FOC)

Padmanabh Acharya appeals for information about NRIs

Shri Padmanabh Acharya, co-convener of BJP’s Overseas Cell, appealed to the people of India, whose family members live in the USA, to provide their contact details so that they can be contacted in the US to join hands with the BJP workers there. He said the information consisting of their name, email address, telephone number, state of living, etc can be sent to the Overseas Cell of BJP, 11, Ashoka Road, New Delhi-110 001.

After a three-month long visit to USA, Shri Acharya recently returned India and presented a report to BJP president Shri Nitin Gadkari suggesting some ways and means to strengthen the organisation there. In his report Shri Acharya also suggested to open the overseas cell’s unit in some more countries including Mexico.

Talking to Organiser in New Delhi Shri Acharya said presently there are 21 units of the Overseas Friends of BJP all over the US. He said at least three organisational programmes are conducted there annually. Apart from it, there are prompt political activities like demonstrations, press conferences, press statements, meeting the American Senate members to resolve the problems of the Indian-Americans.              

(FOC)

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