London:
A record 89 Asian candidates, including Indian-origin Labour nominee Manish Sood who called Gordon Brown the "worst Prime Minister", are in the fray for Britain's May 6 general election.
Sood is Labour candidate from North-west Norfolk. The Asian candidates also include the brother-sister duo of Keith and Valerie Vaz.
The current number of 89 candidates includes 30 from the Conservative party.
In the 2005 elections, there were 68 such candidates and the highest number of ethnic minority MPs 15 were declared elected.
Keith Vaz said that he was looking forward to many more Asian candidates elected in tomorrow's poll, which would reflect the demographic strength of the Asian community.
The May 6 election is likely to break the record of 15 MPs of ethnic minority origin with several organisations, including Operation Black Vote (OBV), actively encouraging ethnic minorities to participate in the voting process.
Campaigners believe that voters from the Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities could determine the outcome in as many as 100 constituencies.
"Never before in British history have our communities been so strategically well placed and mobilised to push for an agenda of racial justice," Simon Woolley, OBV's director, said.
However, a recent survey revealed that unlike people of Indian origin, there is less enthusiasm among other Asians with origins in Pakistan and Bangladesh to vote.
A survey conducted by the BBC Asian Network over the Easter period revealed that people of Indian origin are the most enthusiastic.
The survey said just over four in 10 Asian voters intend to make the trip to the polling booth, which is a lower figure than the population at large.
According to a recent ICM Guardian poll 55 per cent of the general population is expected to vote. In 2005, voting percentage was higher among the Asian community than the general population.
Many of the 89 candidates now in the fray are standing in areas with a large Asian population but their ethnicity will not help their chances, according to the survey. Only 15 per cent of those surveyed said they would vote for a candidate because they are Asian.
The 15 ethnic minority MPs elected in 2005 were: Diane Abbott, Labour; Adam Afriyie, Conservative; Dawn Butler, Labour; Parmjit Dhanda, Labour; Mark Hendrick, Labour; Piara Khabra, Labour; Sadiq Khan, Labour; Ashok Kumar, Labour; David Lammy, Labour; Khalid Mahmood, Labour; Shahid Malik, Labour; Mohamed Sarwar, Labour; Marsha Singh, Labour; Shailesh Vara, Conservative; and Keith Vaz, Labour.
Sood is Labour candidate from North-west Norfolk. The Asian candidates also include the brother-sister duo of Keith and Valerie Vaz.
The current number of 89 candidates includes 30 from the Conservative party.
In the 2005 elections, there were 68 such candidates and the highest number of ethnic minority MPs 15 were declared elected.
Keith Vaz said that he was looking forward to many more Asian candidates elected in tomorrow's poll, which would reflect the demographic strength of the Asian community.
The May 6 election is likely to break the record of 15 MPs of ethnic minority origin with several organisations, including Operation Black Vote (OBV), actively encouraging ethnic minorities to participate in the voting process.
Campaigners believe that voters from the Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities could determine the outcome in as many as 100 constituencies.
"Never before in British history have our communities been so strategically well placed and mobilised to push for an agenda of racial justice," Simon Woolley, OBV's director, said.
However, a recent survey revealed that unlike people of Indian origin, there is less enthusiasm among other Asians with origins in Pakistan and Bangladesh to vote.
A survey conducted by the BBC Asian Network over the Easter period revealed that people of Indian origin are the most enthusiastic.
The survey said just over four in 10 Asian voters intend to make the trip to the polling booth, which is a lower figure than the population at large.
According to a recent ICM Guardian poll 55 per cent of the general population is expected to vote. In 2005, voting percentage was higher among the Asian community than the general population.
Many of the 89 candidates now in the fray are standing in areas with a large Asian population but their ethnicity will not help their chances, according to the survey. Only 15 per cent of those surveyed said they would vote for a candidate because they are Asian.
The 15 ethnic minority MPs elected in 2005 were: Diane Abbott, Labour; Adam Afriyie, Conservative; Dawn Butler, Labour; Parmjit Dhanda, Labour; Mark Hendrick, Labour; Piara Khabra, Labour; Sadiq Khan, Labour; Ashok Kumar, Labour; David Lammy, Labour; Khalid Mahmood, Labour; Shahid Malik, Labour; Mohamed Sarwar, Labour; Marsha Singh, Labour; Shailesh Vara, Conservative; and Keith Vaz, Labour.
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