By NItya Chakraborty
The U.S. Presidential elections on November 5 have assumed unusual significance in the shaping up of the future of Bangladesh which is presently ruled by an interim government headed by the Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus. In the last two weeks, hectic activities were on in both Dhaka as well as in Washington DC and New York by all the contending parties- the chief adviser Dr. Yunus, the main opposition and the aspirant for heading the post election government BNP and the disgraced, now politically shunned ousted ruling party Awami League to explain their respective viewpoints on the Bangladesh developments to the US political establishment covering both the ruling Democratic Party and the opposition Republicans.
Dr. Yunus did his lobbying at official level in New York during his visit to United Nations, from September 24 to September 27 mostly with the US administration including President Biden and the secretary of state Antony Blinken. He had no meeting with any important official of Trump camp. Dr. Yunus depended on his friends in the Democratic Party, especially the Clintons and he went back convinced that he had managed all the support that was needed from the U.S. Government.
Dr. Yunus’s main contender Awami League was not sitting idle. The AL, despite its ouster in Bangladesh and attacks by the present ruling establishment has the largest support base in overseas, especially in the USA and UK and its Bangladeshi diaspora with active AW supporters with high connections, were mobilized soon after Dr. Yunus’s return to Dhaka, to lobby with both the Democratic Party establishment as also the campaign committee of Donald Trump.. Sources say that the AL lobby did not get response from the Kamala Harris camp but they got very good response from the Trump’s advisers. It is not clear whether the AL people could hold a meeting with Trump himself, but certainly they were happy with the initial reaction of the advisers.
The narrative is this. Trump camp knows that Dr. Yunus is a protégé of Hillary Clinton and Trump hates Hillary the most. Even now, in private talks, he calls Hillary a witch and ‘that nasty woman’. The AL leaders harped on this and made the Trump advisers take an anti-Yunus position. . Things will move only after the elections results are out on November 5 night. The political observers of the Bangladesh politics based in Washington believe that if Trump wins, certainly, Dr. Yunus will be in trouble just because he is Hillary’s man but for no other reasons. The AL league wants that Trump should ensure the observance of free and fair elections with the participation of Awami League.
The present main political party in Bangladesh BNP has also lobbied both with the Biden administration and Trump campaign committee. They have sought for early elections in Bangladesh. They have contested the argument of Dr. Yunus that the elections can be held only after the implementation of reforms in tree key areas. They feel that the elections can be held while the reforms are on.
As regards India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a big political stake in the outcome of the presidential elections on November 5. The Modi government is not comfortable with some of the views of the Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris. She is a committed human rights lawyer and her friends in the Democratic Party are anti-Modi. Further BJP as a party is working for Trump presidency in 2024. In USA, the Overseas Friends of BJP is the party wing of its supporters.. Apart there are strong VHP units and Hindu organisations which have close ties with the BJP. PM Modi is a darling to them, many of whom are Gujaratis.
According to a census published in 2023, the US’ 4.4 million Indians now outnumber the Chinese diaspora in the country. Moreover, they’re not just influential on the political scene. 25 of the 500 largest American companies are headed by Indians, including Microsoft, YouTube, Google and Adobe, compared with just 11 a decade ago. The rise of this diaspora is a recent development, coinciding with the arrival of Indian engineers in Silicon Valley from the 2000s onwards. In the US, Indians are the best-paid and most highly educated migrants.
In 2020 presidential elections, estimates made by Indian organisations show that 74 per cent of the Indian Americans voted for the Democratic Party despite high campaign by BJP dominated Indian diaspora with – ‘ Phir Ekbar Trump Sarkar’ in the podium at Houston in 2019. This time, in 2024 elections, the BJP government is feeling it more necessary for them for Trump to win. Accordingly all instructions have been given and the pro-BJP Indian organisations are campaigning for Trump though finally all BJP loyalists may not vote for Trump. Ram Madhav the RSS strongman is in charge of the BJP’s Indian diaspora activities in US.
In sum, Bangladesh politicians and the interim government will be anxiously waiting for the installation of the next President on January 21 , 2025.. If Kamala Harris is elected that does not mean that she will follow fully Biden and Clintons policies in supporting Dr. Yunus. Harris has her own mind. She can review policies also. Not just as President, as a human rights lawyer also, she will judge the situation in Bangladesh. As regards Trump occupying White House again, the only surety is Dr. Yunus will be bundled out but the next step is unpredictable. (IPA Service)
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