Over the last year, it’s been an honour to be part of Zac Goldsmith’s election campaign and to have the opportunity to introduce him to the British Indian community. In just a matter of months, Zac’s celebrated Janmashtami at Bhaktivedanta Manor, danced to garba in Harrow, played cricket at Kingsbury Temple, joined the Rath Yatra festival at Kenton Temple, sang bhajans at Soul Sounds, taken part in countless aartis across the capital and just last weekend toured BAPS Neasden Temple.
All along the campaign trail, the most commonly asked question I get asked is “why should Indians vote for Zac Goldsmith?”
I will of course say that Zac is better than any other candidate. End of. However, this is a first election in a generation, where it is important to acknowledge that never have the stakes been higher for the British Indian community in choosing their Mayor for London.
Zac recognised from the outset the tremendous contribution our community makes to this great city. As a community, we help to make this city what it is. One in eight British Indians works in the City of London. British Indian businesses employ thousands of Londoners across the capital and own the highest number of homes in the city.
Zac has acknowledged that he needs us on side and I admire the lengths he has gone to in engaging with London’s various communities –particularly the British Indian community. Whilst pollsters may say that as a community our vote never holds up for the Conservatives, Zac never lost faith and insisted on wholeheartedly engaging with us.
Last week, Zac bit the bullet and publically confronted Sadiq Khan about his links with extremist groups. Sadiq’s never missed an opportunity to claim he's the victim of Islamophobia, but he's refused on every occasion to give clear answers about his relationships with people who have despicable views. London deserves better.
Let’s be clear, this is not about religion. It doesn’t make any difference whether our next Mayor is Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Jain or Muslim. However what I do care about is about the next Mayor's judgment. And Mr Khan has displayed appalling judgment in the course of his career and I think everyone should be aware of this.
Over the past few months Labour have been rattled and threatened by Zac’s campaign. And so they should be. Labour has taken the ethnic minority vote in London for granted for too long. Labour have unjustfully monopolised the ethnic minority vote and then have the cheek to call our campaign divisive.
But their monopoly seems to be weakening. At the last election, more ethnic minority votes, particularly British Indians, voted Conservative than at any other time before. Despite the polls, the swing amongst the British Indian community is definitely in our favour. More and more British Indians are pledging to vote for Zac day by day.
It would be a disaster for London if Sadiq Khan was elected as our next Mayor. A progressive city like London cannot have a socialist leader. It would be a step back for us all.
This is a wakeup call for British Indians who have a vested interest our city. I urge our community to back Zac on May 5th.
