By Ritu Jha-
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is back to address the Indian diaspora for the fourth time in the U.S.
This time the event, dubbed “Modi&us, progress together,” is smaller than the Howdy Modi event held at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, in 2019, or the Ronald Regan Building meeting in Washington DC last year.
This time, Modi will address the Indian diaspora at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island, New York, on September 22. The venue can hold only 13,000 people, and the organizers said they had to cut off registration to avoid an overflow.
One of the key organizers of the Modi&us event, Dr Bharat Barai[Above with PM Modi], told indica they had opted for a smaller stadium because the event was not in the plan until the date of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) meeting – involving the U.S., Japan, Australia and India – was finalized. Given the U.S. election President Joe Biden decided to host it at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Dr Barai, a Chicago-based oncologist, is a long-time activist of VHP America, which promotes the tenets of Hinduism, and which backs Modi.
“We were informed about the event five or six weeks ago. The officials said that Modi wanted it to be held in New York,” Dr Barai said.
Dr Barai said the stadium would be rented for between $1.5 million -1.6 million. He said entry was free, but donors are helping fund the event. He said nearly 600 organizations have registered as partners for the event. No politicians have been invited because that would risk the event being seen as an effort to influence the U.S. elections.
In 2014, Dr Barai had convinced then President Barack Obama to help clear Modi’s visa, which had earlier been denied.
Dr Barai said about 300 volunteers were working on the September 22 event. He said that the organizers had not had to advertise or put out flyers but still saw 29,700 registrations.
“ We had to stop registrations because if we keep it open for two weeks, we might have 100,000 registrations for only 13,000 seats,” he claimed. “Then people get very displeased that they did not get a chance to attend the event.”
Sharing further he says it is not easy to screen organizations and people attending.
Dr Barai said the organizations represented would be screened to confirm authenticity, and their not-for-profit status, with volunteers checking tax filings and even calling the towns they are from to ensure their legitimacy.
Modi addresses the diaspora 11:40-12:45 pm EST. The celebrations include Echoes of India: A Journey of Art and Tradition, an event featuring about 400 nationally and internationally known artists, including Grammy award nominee Chandrika Tandon, STAR Voice of India winner and Indian superstar Aishwarya Majumdar, Instagram’s Dancing Dad, Ricky Pond, and singer Rex D’Souza.
