The majority of Indian expatriates in the Kingdom sat mesmerized in front of their TVs from early Saturday morning as election results started to pour in. People switched channels by the minute to keep up-to-date on their country's unfolding political drama. Some workers stayed home so that they could watch the results live on television. The cafeterias and barbershops in the Kingdom run by Indians had their TVs tuned to live election news programs with people gathering round arguing with each other as information came in about their party leaders' vote count results. Supporters of victorious candidates celebrated by distributing sweets to family, friends and members of the community. Others gave a more sobering assessment of the election results saying that Indian leaders need to look ahead to the future of the country and not rest on their laurels or gloat over their victory. Saudi Gazette spoke to a number of Indian residents in the Kingdom to get their reaction to the election results. “The UPA won by an unexpectedly large margin. They gained this result due to their unity in the country's developmental work and, thank God, the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Pary) has not come back to power. I thought that, as usual, the BJP would win, but I am glad that did not happen.” – P.V Anees, Senior Manager Service, Redington Arabia, Jeddah.“Leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdullah who have new ideas and a fresh perspective to important issues are the need of modern India. This time victory is for the party which did the most important developmental work for India.” – Afrozul Haq, student, Al Wurood International School, Jeddah “For ages our family has voted for Congress because after independence, Congress helped develop the country. We have inherited ‘Unity in Diversity' from our forefathers and we stick to it, and this victory of Congress is a proof of that.” – Nazeer Maniyamkulam, Chief Librarian, International Indian School Dammam. “This is the victory of patriotism and secularism and I am very glad to be a part of this UPA victory.” – Umer Irikkoor, UDF election committee chairman in Eastern Province.“I am more than happy about the victory of Shashi Tharoor from my constituency and request that the UPA government appoint him as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new government which will benefit the development of Indian expatriates around world.” – Rafeeq Younus, Sooriya Global Chief Coordinator “The Congress-led UPA provided good governance during the past five years. We hope that the UPA comprised of the best people will further improve in governance and perform even better during the next five years under Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister.” – Farjee Rao Malusare, Engineering Manager, Riyadh “All thanks to the Almighty, Indians have recognized that Congress is the only political party which unifies all of India regardless of their cast, creed or religion and displays the true colors of India.” – Jawad Moulavi, Convener of UDF, Eastern Province Committee. “It is now crystal clear that Indians have chosen Congress as their own party to rule over the largest democracy in the world.” – CA Hamid, Indian National Overseas Congress President (INOC) “Differences and divisive politics have to be set aside and attention must be devoted to development plans in rural and urban areas, especially the former. A stable government and a peaceful and stable environment will not only help local business and industries, but will also attract foreign ones as well, which will provide jobs and strengthen the Indian economy.” – K.M. Sharif Kunju, president of the Indian Cultural Congress in Jeddah “The new government must give priority to providing jobs for the young in India. Time and again it has been revealed that Indian talent has fueled America's progress in many sectors. Why can't India make use of the same talent for its own progress? In two decades India can leave Japan behind in GDP and catch up with the United States in 35 years.” – Muhammad Phiroze Khan, Zahid Tractor “India has not been immune to the global recession, which has created problems for the country. The new government must tackle this issue. This needs to be overcome and proper steps must be taken on a priority basis to put the country on the right economic development track.” – Ghazanfar Zaki, secretary general of the Indian Youth Welfare Association “Under the Congress-led UPA government, India has done well and improved its image in the world in various fields, such as, space, science and technology, foreign policy, national economy, sports and the film industry.” – Sidhartha Kar, Process Engineer, Riyadh“The election results were as expected. The people in India have expressed maturity by voting UPA, a secular bloc, once again to power. During the previous five-year period, the Congress-led UPA has provided not only a stable government but also performed well. We expect Manmohan Singh, a clean prime minister, to continue for another five years.” – Rasheed Hassan, Engineer, Riyadh “The general election results in India demonstrated that democracy has won. Moreover, I expected that the UPA would emerge comfortably as a winning bloc to form the government in the center once again. The UPA is good in privatization and also in providing a stable government. I expect Manmohan Singh to be the next PM.” – Umesh Sontakke, Riyadh “The election results were fantastic simply because India will have another five years of stable government. It seems to me that the people have followed the track record of politicians before voting for them during this general election. Some politicians who were non-performing and indulged only in election rhetoric were defeated.” – Jayceelan Sentilan, Gulf Air official, Riyadh __
