Indian-Americans had made enormous strides in the politics as they invested and had put on their campaign shoes and vigorously promoted their political candidates and policies. Indians had a political breakthrough with the success of their efforts became apparent when on Nov. 8 general election five Indian-American candidates were elected to the U.S. Congress and now are choosing their offices. The older generation of Indian-Americans are proud that after several decades of preparing the groundwork for this year’s successes, has paid off.
“We must congratulate the 5 Indian-Americans who won the seats in Congress. And the 2nd generation must continue their high level of involvement and activism,” said Dr. Sudhir Parikh, publisher of News India Times and recipient of India’s Padma Shri award.
Thankful to Hindus Donald Trump
“This process was started by our generation with organizations like the Indian American Forum for Political Education, the Federation of Indian Associations, the India Caucus in the House and the Senate, the focus on discrimination, the Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, our fundraising for both parties and being mentors of the younger generation,” Parikh said. “We are proud of the fruits of our tireless efforts.”
“2016 was a great year for Indian-Americans and U.S.-India relations, especially what the Obama-Modi link has done for that,” said Sampath Shivangi, a long time Republican and current president of the IAFPE.
”Trump has had very kind words for India and about Indians too. I hope this will continue,” Shivangi added. “But he also promised to Pakistan, so we have to see how things go,” Shivangi said.
Indian American, mayor of Apple city
Indian-Americans, all Democrats who are heading to Congress includes U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, currently California attorney general; California lawmaker Dr. Ami Bera entering his 3rd term and Pramila Jayapal of Washington State, while Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, and Ro Khanna of California, are fresh faces in the halls of the U.S. Congress. In the North Carolina, Jay Chaudhuri became the first Indian-American to win a seat to the state Senate.
After his election, Trump had thanked Hindus for rallying behind him. “We did very, very well with many different groups. We did fantastically well with the African American community. We did fantastically well with the his panic community,” Trump said at a Florida “Thank You” rally on Dec. 16, adding, “We have a lot of people tonight from the India, India community. Hindus, we did great with the Hindus, in fact where are they, we have a big group … there they are. I want to thank you. You folks were amazing. They went out and they voted. They were fantastic.”
The community is already celebrating the biggest political appointment of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Another high profile nomination by Trump was recruiting Seema Verma, a healthcare implementation expert from Indiana.
Recently, Savitha Vaidhyanathan, a former math teacher and bank officer was sworn-in as the first Indian-American woman mayor of a major city, Cupertino, California, the home of Apple.
In the New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has appointed Indian-American Sree Srinivasan, as Chief Digital Officer, the first of its kind position. In the year 2016, Indian-Americans had excelled in numerous other fields, as authors, social activists and organizers.
By Premji
