Sydney, April 29 (IANS): Corruption and poor leadership were cited as the main reasons for Indians in Australia seeking a change in government back home, according to an online poll conducted by a media group here.
More than two-thirds of the respondents predicted a resounding defeat for the incumbent Congress party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) likely to be swept to power in the 2014 Indian elections.
A survey conducted by Indian Link media group has revealed overwhelming support for the BJP in Australia's Indian community, as opposed to the Congress party that has been in power for 10 years.
A whopping 73 percent of the respondents in Indian Link's poll said they backed the BJP. The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) snared a surprising 16 percent of the Australian-Indian vote, while the Congress Party managed only a poor six percent.
A sizable number of respondents of the Indian Link survey (55 percent), were long-term residents of Australia. They do genuinely want to be able to have a say in the elections; an overwhelming 82 percent of the respondents claimed they would like a chance to be able to vote.
Corruption and poor leadership, it was revealed in comments, are leading India astray, and the desire for change is clear from the strong endorsement of the Narendra Modi-led BJP.
Indian Link is Australia's leading community media organisation with a fortnightly newspaper in Sydney and monthly in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth and a 24/7 radio station.
India is currently voting in its 16th general elections, a process that stretches to an entire month, given that 814 million people will be exercising their democratic right to elect a new parliament.