‘A new rock star at the Madison Square Garden’: Aruna Miller.
By Bala Chandran
VIENNA, VIRGINIA: Bharatiya Janata Party members Vijay Jolly and Rajyavardan Singh Rathode were given a luncheon reception at an upscale Indian restaurant here on Saturday, August 30th.
The event was organized by Sudhir Sekhsaria and Gurpreet Takhar to celebrate the visit of Jolly, Global Coordinator of BJP Overseas Affairs, and Col. Rathode, BJP MP and Olympic shooting champion.
In their speeches they urged the Indian community in the capital region to partake in the August 28 community reception for prime minister Narendra Modi in New York and make it a grand success. The highly anticipated public program is to be held at the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.
Rathode in his speech said that Modi believes that the Indians who went across to other countries in difficult times made the “brand India,” and because of their hard work, integrity, loyalty, intellect, intelligence and team work, have made what India is today.
So it was his vision to send the BJP delegation to connect with the Indian expatriates first, to bring them the message of what’s going on in India and take back their messages, their perception of India and what should be done for the betterment of the country. He urged everyone to visit mygov.nic.in to share opinions, ideas and suggestions to build a better India. He reminded the audience that September 28 is the opportunity for the Indian American community to show the world, in spite of the diverse political affiliations and thought processes, that when it comes to the leader of the nation they join together to demonstrate that India has awakened and India is a country to reckon with.
Jolly opened his remarks by saying, “I bring you the warm good wishes of the honorable Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi as well as the BJP President Mr. Amit Shah.” He said he has come here to invite the community to New York on September 28 and if the prime minister can travel thousands of miles to the US, they should consider it an obligation to travel to Madison Square Garden to see him and listen to what he has to say.
“Ayenge na?” Jolly asked in an intimate, lowered voice – reminiscent of Hindi film dialogue, to which the guests cheered and clapped. He said all the communities, castes and religions came together to give a decisive mandate to the BJP and its supreme leader Narendra Modi, and that is evidence enough to nullify the allegation of BJP being a “communal Hindu party.”
Jolly added, “Mr. Modi represents the millions of people with aspirations… When you saw Mr. Modi speaking from the ramparts of the Lal Khila, without (any) bullet-proof screen, that spoke (of) the confidence, that exhibited the vigor of the new government lead by Mr. Modi.”
Welcoming the dignitaries, Maryland State Delegate Aruna Miller said, “The last time I was at the Madison Square Garden in New York I think I saw a rock show. Now there’s going to be a new rock star there on September 28, Prime Minister Modi. While some create transformation through music Prime Minister Modi and his team is gonna create transformation through their leadership and new vision, not only for India but also with the relationship they will have with the United States.”
Besides some Indian American businessmen and politicians, the guests at the reception included Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy and Mark Brunner, Senior Advisor to Senator Mark Warner.
Brunner in his brief speech said, “It’s a great opportunity to reconnect with my good friend Mr. Jolly… as well as my good friend the DCM from the embassy who we work with very closely. And many of you probably would assume that but I would tell you that the relationship between Senator Warner and myself and Ambassador Jaishankar and DCM here, is very close, and we coordinate probably several times a week, because again, we feel that we are really poised right now to take this US-India relationship to the next level.”