I.S. Saluja
Vijay Jolly, BJP Global Convener, Overseas Affairs was on US Tour from August 18 to 30 to drum up support for Modi’s reception in New York on September 28. He visited, in all, 12 locations in Canada and USA. The US locations included Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, New Jersey and Washington He was accompanied on the visit by Rajyavardhan Rathore, Member of Parliament.
Vijay Jolly and Rajyavardhan Rathore with Ambassador Mulay and members of Indian American community at the lunch hosted by the Consul General in honor of the visiting leaders L to R: Pam Kwatra, Vijay Nahata, Jagdish Sewhaney, Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, Vijay Jolly, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Chandrakant Patel, Atma Singh, Harry Bolla
One of his engagements in New York on August 26 was a meeting over lunch with India‘s Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mule at the latter’s residence where I was also invited as were some more members of the Indian American community. Since we have known each other for some time now, there was an air of informality between us when I asked him for an interview for The Indian Panorama. I must thank him for his appreciation of the publication which he said he read on line every week. When asked the purpose of his visit to Canada and USA, he said, it was to galvanize the overseas units to work for the success of the civic reception planned for Modi in New York on September 28.
To my question as to what he thought was the response of the Indo Canadian and Indo American community to Modi’s visit to USA, he said people were excited and keen to come to New York to see him. He added, “However, we know the place (Madison Square Garden) cannot hold beyond 18,000 and feel sorry for many who may not be able to get the tickets to come in”. Asked what he felt was the implication of Modi’s visit at the invitation of President Obama, he said, the visit of Prime Minister of India to the United States at the invitation of President of USA signifies a lot.
Vijay Jolly (center) and Rajyavardhan Rathore, M.P. (Right) with Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay
To put in a few words, it signals the desire of the United States to have friendly and close ties with India. Vijay said he was sanguine the meeting between India’s Prime Minister and US President will strengthen the already strong ties between the two nations and lead to greater cooperation in various fields. As Vijay Jolly was leaving, he turned to me and said, “Mark my words. Modiji will get a tumultuous welcome in USA, the kind of which was never accorded to a Prime Minister of India in USA”.