Punjab Elections 2017: NRIs, Pounding Punjab's Pavements, A Staple Of This Election

Bathinda: The Sangam Hotel in town has turned into a meeting place for a group of men on a mission, which is emblazoned on their sweatshirts: "Chalo Punjab." Some of them are meeting for the first time; all are Non-Resident Indians or NRIs. Most are from Canada and Australia and will spend the next week pounding the pavement, soliciting votes for the parties they support.

For this band of men, the leading choice is Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party or AAP. Navi Dhillon, a trucker in Toronto, left Punjab in 2007. "I may be there but my family, friends are here, the 37-year-old said. "My father had a heart attack and we took him to the local hospital. We paid for private care, but even then they couldn't do much. By the time he was taken to PGI Chandigarh, he died."
 Mr Dhillon says that was a wake-up call to fight for change. He has taken four weeks off from work and is living with relatives while he goes door to door every day telling people why they must vote. "I have given my vote to the Congress and Akalis before, so why not try them (AAP)?" he said.

It is a personal story or experience that appears to have motivated most NRIs to transplant themselves for the election. A common concern is land mafia threatening their families about appropriating their farms.

Darshan Singh, 26, started planning for his stint as a campaigner two years ago in Melbourne, making arrangements to take seven weeks off. "There are so many people who live in fear because the local mafia threatens to file cases against them. All this is done just to grab land in various ways," he said.
 Soni Sharma is here from Toronto and says as a first-generation migrant, he still has a strong connect to India. 'Why can't we have health insurance for all like they have in Canada? That's what we want," he said.

Estimates of how many NRIs have flown into Punjab for the election swing from between 10,000 to 50,000, a number floated by some AAP volunteers. Those who are campaigning for AAP have got the maximum attention and the Akalis and Congress have petitioned the Election Commission to ban NRIs from seeking votes, citing them as "outsiders" and alleging that they are "affiliated to radical forces" that could cause unrest in the border state. NRIs bristle at that. "Why is the Akali government complaining about us? We just want a better life for our family," said Mr Dhillon.