Indian expats taken aback by poll results

The 2014 Indian parliamentary elections have evoked much curiosity among Indian expatriates in the Kingdom, many of whom were glued to their TV sets since early Friday morning to know the elections results.
The scale of the victory of the BJP-led alliance with 339 seats compared to the Congress-led UPA with only 59 seats has surprised many in the Kingdom.
However, Narendra Modi’s campaign couldn’t make significant inroads in the southern states where most of the Indian expatriates in the Kingdom hail from. The BJP failed to impress voters in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the newly formed Telangana state of which Hyderabad is the capital. The state assembly elections results in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were declared today simultaneously with the Indian general elections.
Social media via smart phones besides the television channels has played an important role in communicating the election results to the Indian expatriate community.
The servers of many news portals and channels which were broadcasting the results live were overloaded decreasing the speed of the Internet after Friday prayers, according to some users.
Syed Kaleem who works in the field of aviation and is from Hyderabad said, “It is indeed one of the saddest elections that have paved way for the rightwing extremist Hindutwa party to become victorious.”
The whole political scenario in India has changed, he said.
Mohammed Saleem, who works in the emergency department of a leading hospitality company in Jeddah and works on Fridays said, “I have taken leave for the day and gathered at a friend’s house with scores of others to watch the elections results.”
Mohammed Mozzam Ali Ifteqar, a Telangana activist in Jeddah said, “Modi’s campaign made waves across the country but couldn’t make an impact on the Telangana region. The BJP was able to get only one seat from Secunderabad with the help of TDP.” Yunus Ali Rehan, supporter of the Hyderabad-based Majlis party said, “MIM has retained its base and also played an important role in preventing the BJP from securing votes in the state.”
There were others who exuded hopes. P. Venumadhav, a health professional in Riyadh said, “The BJP’s landslide victory is a sign for good governance and the development of the country. Everything else is secondary.”
Murukesan, a Tamil activist said that, “The country wants Narendra Modi and the results prove it because everyone is hoping for a change in governance.”