Hear us loud and clear!
On 12th Sep 2014; Manukau Indian Association hosted the ‘meet and greet’ evening where in all the Kiwi Indian candidates were invited to interact with the Kiwi Indian community represented by about 200 leaders from all across the country.
The community leaders were very clear in their message. The president of the New Zealand Indian Central Association, Harshad Patel emphasised, “don’t ignore us after you are elected to the Parliament’. NZICA life member and senior community leader, Prithipal Singh said, “We would hold you accountable for your actions”. There was a consensus that the elected members need to focus to:
1. “promote elected bodies and not dilute them by trying to put them at par with various trusts and individual setups”
2. “Engage with the community in a constructive empowering exercise”
Attendees were shown the video of the June Conclave and this was followed by a brief address by the contesting candidates. The gathering applauded the current member parliament (National) Mr K L Bakshi for being the first ever Kiwi Indian in New Zealand parliament. The august body was pleased to meet and hear Ms Priyanka Radhakrishnan (Labour) but the highlight of the day was a candid speech by the New Zealand First candidate, Mr Mahesh Bindra – Indian version of Winston Peters. His submission of application for life membership (financial) with the organisation (MIA) immediately on arrival was definitely seen as his determination to engage with the community.
Community leaders also got a chance to hear Paramjit Parmar (National) who highlighted the success story of the National Party by providing some statistics; Sunny Kaushal (Labour) who emphasised the need to address the real issues and not indulge into the rhetoric and Anne Pala (NZ First) who highlighted the agenda of her party.
A brief question and answer session was followed by the first ever Kiwi Indian snap poll which mainly mirrored the national trend as indicated by various other recent polls in the country. But again the highlight was the strong surge in popularity of the man of the day – Mahesh Bindra. With 17% NZ First was the most improved political party Vis Vis popularity within the Kiwi Indian community. The polls showed a support of 50% for National and 25% for Labour.
The event is seen as a huge success by the Kiwi Indian community as it is felt that the real political dialogue has just begun.
-Veer Khar (President Manukau Indian Association and Chairperson Special Committee New Zealand Indian Central Association)
On 12th Sep 2014; Manukau Indian Association hosted the ‘meet and greet’ evening where in all the Kiwi Indian candidates were invited to interact with the Kiwi Indian community represented by about 200 leaders from all across the country.
The community leaders were very clear in their message....
On 12th Sep 2014; Manukau Indian Association hosted the ‘meet and greet’ evening where in all the Kiwi Indian candidates were invited to interact with the Kiwi Indian community represented by about 200 leaders from all across the country.
The community leaders were very clear in their message. The president of the New Zealand Indian Central Association, Harshad Patel emphasised, “don’t ignore us after you are elected to the Parliament’. NZICA life member and senior community leader, Prithipal Singh said, “We would hold you accountable for your actions”. There was a consensus that the elected members need to focus to:
1. “promote elected bodies and not dilute them by trying to put them at par with various trusts and individual setups”
2. “Engage with the community in a constructive empowering exercise”
Attendees were shown the video of the June Conclave and this was followed by a brief address by the contesting candidates. The gathering applauded the current member parliament (National) Mr K L Bakshi for being the first ever Kiwi Indian in New Zealand parliament. The august body was pleased to meet and hear Ms Priyanka Radhakrishnan (Labour) but the highlight of the day was a candid speech by the New Zealand First candidate, Mr Mahesh Bindra – Indian version of Winston Peters. His submission of application for life membership (financial) with the organisation (MIA) immediately on arrival was definitely seen as his determination to engage with the community.
Community leaders also got a chance to hear Paramjit Parmar (National) who highlighted the success story of the National Party by providing some statistics; Sunny Kaushal (Labour) who emphasised the need to address the real issues and not indulge into the rhetoric and Anne Pala (NZ First) who highlighted the agenda of her party.
A brief question and answer session was followed by the first ever Kiwi Indian snap poll which mainly mirrored the national trend as indicated by various other recent polls in the country. But again the highlight was the strong surge in popularity of the man of the day – Mahesh Bindra. With 17% NZ First was the most improved political party Vis Vis popularity within the Kiwi Indian community. The polls showed a support of 50% for National and 25% for Labour.
The event is seen as a huge success by the Kiwi Indian community as it is felt that the real political dialogue has just begun.
-Veer Khar (President Manukau Indian Association and Chairperson Special Committee New Zealand Indian Central Association)
Leave a Comment