Bloggers4UKIP: Abhijit Pandya bombs in Leicester South

Friday, 6 May 2011

Abhijit Pandya bombs in Leicester South

Some people defended Abhijit Pandya the other day when the UKIP candidate in the Leicester South by-election called for the deportation of immigrants who don't work. It's "free speech", it's "libertarian" ...

His call for immigrants to integrate was very welcome and he should be getting three cheers rather than abuse from phoney patriots and ignorant fools who put political correctness before principle.

Very welcome. So welcome he attracted a massive 2.9% of the vote. Some people on the UKIP members' forum said he would attract more votes than he lost because of what he said. Really? He would have got less than 2.9%?

Pandya is not a suitable person to be advising UKIP on community cohesion and policy.

Comments (24)

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Durotrigan · 725 weeks ago

A quite startling result, it must be said. By how many votes did he beat the Monster Raving Looney?

2 replies · active 724 weeks ago

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Scepticalia · 725 weeks ago

By how many votes did he beat the Monster Raving Looney?

Not very many. It is a huge step backwards after Oldham and Barnsley and given the money that must have been thrown after the campaign there will be a lot of red faces.

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@Sov_Res · 724 weeks ago

I fail to see how doubling the vote percentage in a massively secure Labour constituency, that experienced a twelve per cent swing to Labour, consitutes "a huge step backwards."

No one has been able to explain that to me. Though, as I'm not a Labour supporter, and have never posted on a self-evidently Labour page like this one before; there's probably something I'm blind to here.

Possibly how being the party's spokesman on social cohesion, and then identifying out-loud what we all recognize to be the greatest threat to social cohesion, makes you unsuited to speak on the issue of social cohesion. But that's just me...

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@Sov_Res · 725 weeks ago

So it's loud and clear now. UKIP should put political correctness before principle. And become like every other party. (and the reason why one third of members joined, goes)

He made his stand. Was astonishingly brave. Anyone who crticises Islam, and calls it what it is, has to be physically brave. And of course everyone howled at him, for no other reason that that it was the conditioned pavlovian response. The Marxist logic was out in force: pointing out the biggest threat to social cohesion, endangers social cohesion.

The AV referendum tells us too what the British people want: they want more of the same. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to get the country that you deserve.

5 replies · active 724 weeks ago

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wonkotsane 85p · 725 weeks ago

No, UKIP shouldn't put PC before principle but it's not a question of political correctness - he was calling for the forced repatriation of immigrants who don't have a work ethic and who don't integrate with society. Everyone knows they are a problem but not everyone comes to the conclusion that they should be deported rather than simply changing the system that encourages worklessness and the failure of multiculturalism. Apart from the BNP.

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@Sov_Res · 725 weeks ago

You see I've caught you, and you have contradicted yourself mightily. You can't have it both ways. You are making it about the deportation issue now, when Pandya did not, and neither did the press in Leicester. It was all about Islam.

And if you think noone advocates the deportation of workshy foreigners apart from the BNP you are soft in the head pal. It has been on the statute book since the Immigration Act 1971, and happens everyday in the Queen's Bench division. And what do you think UKIP would do with all those Poles if it tomorrow secured our independence from the EU?

Your criticism is *precisely* that he should have put political correctness before principle.

He shouldn't have mentioned the bogeyman words: Islam, deportation, the death of British culture. Well to my mind, only people with balls in politics are the ones who do. But I'm loving the BNP comparison though. Says ALOT about you. Are you a Labour supporter by any chance? They're the only people in this debate who have been thick enough to imply racism in Mr Pandya when he's from precisely the same race as the community he's criticised.

Well if you are, congratulations on your man Miliband winning the AV vote that he secretly hoped would go No. Cameron and Miliband must be cock-a-hoop at the fact that they now have the bridge of the Titanic entirely to themselves.

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wonkotsane 85p · 725 weeks ago

Bogus asylum seekers should be deported. Immigrants that commit serious crimes should be deported. Nobody - immigrant or otherwise - should be able to deliberately avoid working and live off the state. When I first criticised Pandya it was for both his self-destructive comments about Islam and (primarily) for saying workshy immigrants should be deported.

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@Sov_Res · 725 weeks ago

Now your complaint is that his comments were this nebulous thing called "self-destructive" and we return to the first point you still evade, about political correctness.

He stated facts. Nothing more. Clear as day. Your position is therefore, certain facts shouldn't be stated. Because they are self-destructive. In other words keep silent about the truth if might harm you poltically. I have told you three times already, you can't have it both ways. And yet here you are banging your fist your fist down yet again, like a baby on a high chair, pretending that you can.

UKIP cannot be a party of principle (as I and Mr Pandya would like) and a party of political correctness (as you deny but you would clearly prefer). They are incompatible, and mutually exclusive. You can light a match. You can be underwater. But you cannot do both.

And as I have told you, workshy immigrants are deported daily from the UK, under existing immigration legislation. Specifically for that reason. You have, unsurprisingly, absolutely no idea what you are talking about. For the umpteenth time this is NOT UKIP policy dreamt up by Mr Pandya, it is existing UK law since 1971!

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dave · 724 weeks ago

he was that brave he hid his address on the ballot paper,whilst all the local candidates in Leicester,many of whom disagreed with him,didn't have that option.

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@Sov_Res · 725 weeks ago

And for the record, Mr Pandya took 2.9% not 1.11% which you suggst.

This is no great shakes, but is an increase of 1.4% from the last UKIP performance of 1.5%. So "bombed" is a rather inaccurate term, wouldn't you say? Though Mr Pandya could well expect to be bombed now, for his courage.

You see if we all stood together, those that would terrorize us would have no power over us. But when we throw those who would speak up to the wolves, and blame them for speaking up? We are cowards who richly deserve the inevitability that awaits us.

1 reply · active 725 weeks ago

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wonkotsane 85p · 725 weeks ago

Thanks for the correction, I was using Gordon Brown's calculator. But general elections and by-elections are different things - smaller parties do better in by-elections. Paul Nuttall got 5.8% in Oldham and Jane Collins came second in Barnsley with 12.2%. That's what this should be compared to - both were by-elections, both were fairly recent and both were in "multicultural" constituencies.

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Scepticalia · 725 weeks ago

A very grim result given that we could barely manage to beat the Raving Loonies.

The Leicester Mercury must be blamed partly for this fiasco given that it put out an scurrilous editorial the previous weekend urging voters not to vote UKIP.

Whether it was a good idea to turn up outside their offices on a Sunday morning and complain to an invisible man remains to be seen.
http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2011/05/ukips-...

3 replies · active 725 weeks ago

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wonkotsane 85p · 725 weeks ago

Yes, the Leicester Mercury should be partly blamed but if Pandya hadn't started spouting BNP policies on his blog they wouldn't have had anything to write about.

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@Sov_Res · 725 weeks ago

What BNP policy did he espouse? You keep parotting this line, but never justify it.

Deportation of the workshy, which is already in law?

Or criticism of the Islamic treatment of women, which should turn the stomach of anyone who considers themselves a civilized human being?

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wonkotsane 85p · 725 weeks ago

It is not UKIP policy to deport workshy immigrants or immigrants that don't integrate with society. Nor should it be and that's why Pandya is the wrong person to be advising us on policy.

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George S · 725 weeks ago

Does anyone know how many thousands were thrown after this campaign? Thought they hired a campaign building in the city centre.

If the party spent anything like as much as in Barnsley Stuart Wheeler must be feeling very sick indeed.

2 replies · active 724 weeks ago

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wonkotsane 85p · 725 weeks ago

I'd like to know as well. Who's the RO for the East Mids?

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dave · 724 weeks ago

Don Ransome.City centre office,billboards,house,election address...etc talking £20,000+ I'd have thought..

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Jim Davies · 725 weeks ago

Under the circumstances I don't think at this stage any candidate could have done better. Let's stop slagging off people who put in a lot of hard work and concentrate on the real enemy. Abhjit is decent well intentioned guy and will keep going whatever.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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dave · 724 weeks ago

did he do as much door knocking as the lass in barnsley?no.

his main effort seemed to have been spent on trying to connect with various groups who quite clearly,didn't connect with him.

to compare him with the barnsley lass,is deeply unfair on her.

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luikkerland · 725 weeks ago

In real terms - appying the percentage of turnout in 2010 to 2011, Pandya attracted nearly 500 more voters than the 2010 percentage projected. That's nearly double the number of UKIP voters compared with 2010. Granted, it was more in Barnsley and Oldham. Perhaps he might have done bettter if people from his own party hadn't accused him of racism and demand that he was drummed out of the party. Listen, I know that you are going to make some defence of yourself, I aint interested in it. I think that you're in the wrong party. I am not being facetious or anything, but I think that the Socialists also call for withdrawal from the EU, and perrhaps with your suffering from a Marxist thought constraint and all, you might prefer that party?

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guest · 724 weeks ago

The whole campaign was rubbish , the website for Pandya was in place but there were no updates until a couple of weeks before the election, the inquest about what he said about Islam is a smokescreen to cover up a crap campaign ,we cannot keep campaigning around a few pubs , we need a new webmaster urgently ,we need to spend our money on the correct delivery of the UKIP message, we need to get some structure at grass roots, we need to modernise and get away from the old image of being the past ,we need to be the future get some proper PR people in and stop leaving everything to Nigel

The message is great the delivery is terrible

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Realitybeckons · 724 weeks ago

People who compare the Leicester South byelection with Oldham and Barnsley are complete and utter MORONS!
Do you not realise that during those two there were no other elections happening in the country so that we could get UKIP supporters around the country to join in and campaign. The one thing that UKIP badly needs is boots on the ground like other parties who have 20 people minimum campaigning in different parts of the constituency. Perhaps you guys did not notice that there was a referendum, council elections and assembly elections happening at the same time. As for the BNP association that you lot are making, I love it, you really do belong to the Guardian, LibLab MSM sector that is destroying this country day by day.

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dave · 724 weeks ago

pandya spent £20,000 getting 250 extra votes.he knocked very few doors in comparison with the lass in barnsley and relied on making inflammatory statements to cover his lack of work.the 2010 GE candidate was a paper candidate.for £20,000 he should have beaten that mark.

as for his remarks,right or wrong,they displayed a complete lack of political judgement.

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