Not just India, why Modi is a problem in US elections too

BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has been giving sleepless nights to the UPA. As the Lok Sabha polls draw near, Congress leaders seem to be fearing the worst and panicking. They leave no stone unturned to attack the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. In an interview to Reuters today, Oil and Environment Minister Veerappa Moily blamed Modi for disintegrating Gujarat and has said that he had deliberately shielded the 2002 ‘genocide’ in the state. But, Congress leaders attacking Modi is no surprise. After all, Modi is one of their biggest problems in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. What is surprising is the fact that Narendra Modi has become an election issue in the US too. In California’s 17th Congressional district in San Francisco’s Bay Area, the issue of denying Modi a US visa in 2005  has become a political problem, notes a Times of India report today.  [caption id=“attachment_1356149” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] Until now, the issue was between Democrat congressman Mike Honda who with 25 other Congressmen had signed a letter asking the US to continue denying Modi a visa and Ro Khanna, an Indian American who is contesting from the Republican party. But now, the fight got bigger. Vanila Mathur Singh, an anaesthesiologist of Indian-origin, who is also a volunteer of the Hindu American Foundation recently joined the race as a Republican candidate. Mathur says one of the biggest issue she will fight against will be the Modi visa issue. And it’s not just Mathur or Khanna, there are many Modi supporters in the election-bound state who see the Modi visa issue as a major factor in the election. Although Honda is leading the polls, pro-Modi supporters are proving that there will be a backlash in US politics for those who criticize Modi, notes the ToI report. In 2005, the State Department revoked Modi’s visa under an American law that bars a foreign official who “was responsible for or directly carried out, particularly severe violations of religious freedom.’ But it seems,  neither Honda nor the US can deny visa to Modi for very long. Besides the Modi supporters, there is also a pressure on US from Indian politicians’ end. Recently, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who is former external affairs minister, said after the 2014 polls President Barack Obama would have to handover the visa to Modi himself or risk losing his own entry to India. A combative Sinha asked, “Will the US ever treat diplomats from China or Brazil in this fashion? We have to send a strong message that India is back in the hands of a strong leader after the 2014 polls. Either Obama come to Delhi to handover (the visa) to Modi or we will have to cancel his visa.” In an editorial in Time Magazine, Michal Crowley suggested that the BJP “holds the edge” in the upcoming general election. He said that “If the BJP prevails, Modi will be India’s next Prime Minister. “Yet he is persona non grata in the US,” he noted “because of his alleged role in a horrific episode of sectarian violence in February 2002.” US policymakers are divided. But then Modi is no ordinary man in India, he could be the next PM. “When Modi had no national profile, the restriction was inconsequential. But can Washington blacklist the leader of India?” Crowley asked. “Should Modi win, the Obama administration will be pressured by many at home and abroad to condemn his past and prevent him from visiting the US. But (President Barack) Obama has tended to subordinate principle to the national interest,” he suggested. Noting that “Over the years, the US has done business with plenty of unsavoury leaders, in countries far less friendly than India,” Time said, “By revoking Modi’s visa, the US government has made clear its view of him and the Gujarat rampage.” Modi, clearly, is not just a national figure anymore. He has become a global figure creating ripples in the US state elections too.