Non-Resident Supporters Prop Up AAP’s Lok Sabha Campaign

People who relocate do not leave behind an interest in the politics of their homeland – and use the internet and global financing to support candidates: “A motivated band of non-resident Indians (NRIs) are pitching in from across the globe to lend a helping hand to AAP's ambitious Lok Sabha campaign through the party's ‘support a state’ (SAS) initiative,” reports Himanshi Dhawan for the Times of India. With assistance from an Aam Aadmi Party coordinator, Indians in Japan, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Singapore raise funds, support candidates with social media and even take leaves of absence to volunteer for their candidates. The party now coordinates supporters among the diaspora after winning 70 percent of constituencies adopted by non-resident Indians during the Delhi assembly elections in December. The party, whose name translates into the party for the common man, formed in 2012 to battle corruption. – YaleGlobal