Politics hogged the spotlight at this year’s Indian Independence Day celebrations in Auckland over the weekend as candidates from Labour, National and the ACT Party all urged the Indian diaspora to vote in their favour in the general election in October.<\/p>\n
Ethnic Communities Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan was quick to defend the work of her portfolio, while former National MP turned ACT candidate Parmjeet Parmar described it as a “token ministry”. The parties have clashed on this issue before.<\/p>\n
ACT candidate for Mount Roskill Rahul Chopra went further, claiming that his party is inclusive.<\/p>\n
“We are a party of all New Zealanders irrespective of their origin working collectively for the provision of New Zealand,” Chopra said.<\/p>\n
National leader Christopher Luxon spoke of his love for India when introducing his party’s candidates of Indian origin to the audience.<\/p>\n
“I want to make going to India a big priority in my first term as the prime minister,” Luxon said. “We should be expanding the trade opportunities between our two countries.”<\/p>\n