4 Indian-Americans win state, local elections in US
Washington: Four Indian-Americans, including a Muslim woman and a former White House technology policy advisor, have won state and local elections held in the United States on Tuesday.
Indian-American Ghazala Hashmi, a former community college professor, created history by becoming the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Virginia State Senate, while Suhas Subramanyam, who served as the White House technology policy adviser to former president Barack Obama, has been elected to the Virginia State House of Representative.
In her maiden attempt, Hashmi, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican State Senator Glen Sturtevant for the Virginia's 10th Senate District, drawing national attention.
"This victory is not mine alone. It belongs to all of you who believed that we needed to make progressive change here in Virginia, for all of you who felt that you haven't had a voice and believed in me to be yours in the General Assembly," she said after her historic victory.
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who was the first woman presidential candidate, congratulated Hashmi.
"I also want to shout out @Hashmi4Va, the first Muslim woman elected to the VA State Senate. As she said yesterday, her victory 'belongs to all of you who believed that we needed to make progressive change here in Virginia, for all of you who felt that you haven't had a voice'," Clinton said in a tweet.
Hashmi, who had moved to the US from India as a young girl with her family 50 years ago, responded, saying, "I am deeply honoured by your words, Secretary Clinton. You broke so many glass ceilings for women in public service."
Hashmi was raised in a small town in Georgia and saw firsthand how community-building and open dialogue can bridge cultural and socioeconomic divisions, uniting people from all walks of life. She earned a BA in English from Georgia Southern University and a PhD from Emory University.
She and her husband, Azhar, moved to the Richmond area in 1991. Hashmi has spent the past 25 years as a leading educator in Virginia's college and university system. She currently serves as the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Reynolds Community College.
"After flipping the Senate, I'll have Democrats by my side to fight to protect Virginians from the climate crisis and senseless gun violence, and work to expand our access to affordable health care and funding for public education. I can't wait to work together in the state Senate," Hashmi said.
Subramanyam, meanwhile, entered the Virginia State House of Representatives from the Indian-American-dominated district of Loudon and Prince William.
"My promise to the people of Loudoun and Prince William: I will always listen to you, work tirelessly for you, and do everything I can to empower you. The campaign is over, but my work for you has just begun," he said.
His mother, a native of Bengaluru in India, had immigrated to the United States in 1979. She landed in Dulles airport to start a new life and went on to become a physician and raise a family.
Subramanyam served on Capitol Hill as a healthcare and veterans policy aide, and spent time as a technology and regulatory attorney. Former US president Barack Obama had named him his White House technology policy adviser.
In this capacity, he led a task force on technology policy that Obama charged with addressing some of the country's most challenging technology issues, including job creation and displacement in the technology sector, regulating emerging technology, and addressing cybersecurity and IT modernisation in the public sector.
In California, Indian-American Mano Raju won his election to remain San Francisco's Public Defender.
Raju attended Columbia University as an undergraduate where he researched Critical Race Theory under Professor Kendall Thomas. After an influential fellowship at the Oxford Center for African Studies, he relocated to Berkeley in the 90s to pursue his Masters in South Asian Studies and later his JD at Berkeley School of Law, where he interned in the San Francisco Public Defender's Office.
In North Carolina, incumbent Dimple Ajmera won a convincing re-election to Charlotte City Council. A former Certified Public Accountant, Ajmera immigrated to the US from India along with her parents when she was 16. At that time, she spoke no English. Proving her tenacity, she went on to graduate from the University of Southern California (USC) and later became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
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Satyagraha sparks political storm in Kerala as CM accuses Centre of financial squeeze
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala saw a heated political showdown on Monday as state ministers led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to the streets with a Satyagraha, accusing the BJP-led Centre of squeezing the state financially.
What followed was a war of words, with the BJP hitting back hard and the Congress keeping its distance, turning the issue into a three-cornered political battle.
Standing before party leaders, ministers and supporters at the Martyrs' Column in Palayam here, Vijayan said Kerala had been pushed into an "extraordinary struggle" to protect its rights.
He told the gathering that the Centre was trying to "snatch away" what the Constitution had guaranteed to the states.
According to him, this was not just about money, but about dignity, federalism and democracy.
"This is a struggle for the survival of this land and its people. Believing that all authority rests in their hands, the rulers at the Centre are arbitrarily usurping our rights," Vijayan said, a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that the funds given to the state during the NDA period were more than three times higher than what it received during the Congress-led UPA period.
"The present situation has compelled us to take to struggle in order to protect those rights. This is an extraordinary and grave circumstance," the veteran CPI(M) leader said.
He said the Union government was treating Kerala with bias and political vengeance.
The cuts in grants and borrowing limits, he claimed, were meant to choke the state financially.
Vijayan pointed out that Kerala was supposed to get Rs 12,000 crore between January and March, but was denied Rs 5,900 crore without any clear reason. This, he said, had made it difficult for the government to pay bills and run welfare schemes smoothly.
The CM also accused the Union government of centralising power and using money to reward states ruled by friendly parties while punishing opposition-ruled states like Kerala.
He reminded the people of how Kerala was denied permission to receive foreign aid during the 2018 floods and how support was lacking after the Wayanad landslide. These were, Vijayan said, clear examples of discrimination.
Rejecting claims of financial mismanagement, he said the state had continued to invest in welfare, development and jobs despite financial pressure.
Taking on Amit Shah's claim that Kerala received more funds under the Modi government, Vijayan said tax devolution was not a gift, but a constitutional right. He accused the Centre of interfering with the Finance Commission and quoted NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam.
"Subrahmanyam, who is currently serving as the CEO of NITI Aayog, has stated that soon after becoming Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi exerted pressure on the Finance Commission to reduce the tax share of states," he said.
The chief minister said the Finance Commission had recommended 42 per cent for states and that there was an attempt to cut it to 33 per cent. He added that the Prime Minister had not denied this claim.
"When Amit Shah cites figures, he must also clarify these facts. Perhaps realising that none of this can be defended, he has now resorted to dreaming about a distant future," he said.
Calling for wider protests, Vijayan said Kerala would fight legally and politically to protect federalism and ensure its rightful share. He also criticised the Congress-led UDF for not standing with the state at this crucial time.
But the BJP hit back almost immediately. State BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Left government was trying to fool the public.
He said a government that had ruled for nearly 10 years had no excuse to shift blame.
"A government that has ruled for 10 years should explain what it has done for the people. That is the basic courtesy in a democracy," Chandrasekhar told a press conference here.
He challenged Vijayan to a public debate on governance and finances. He claimed that Kerala received Rs 72,000 crore during UPA rule, but Rs 3.2 lakh crore under the NDA.
He argued that nearly Rs 7 lakh crore had come through central assistance and borrowings in the last decade, and over Rs 10 lakh crore including revenue receipts.
Chandrasekhar said central schemes worth Rs 16,000 crore were not implemented and pointed to water shortages, unpaid contractors and homelessness.
Meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF chose not to join the protest.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan said his party would not be part of what he called political drama by the LDF.
He alleged an "unholy understanding" between the CPI(M) and the BJP and said the Left was pretending to fight the Centre while quietly supporting its policies.
"If we participate in such protests, we too will lose credibility," he said.
Later in a post on X, Vijayan said Kerala's share in tax devolution, grants and scheme funds have been reduced.
"We have suffered a total revenue loss of Rs 57,000 crores due to the Union Government’s financial discrimination against us."
He said the state was merely demanding what is rightfully owed to it, not any handout from the Union Government.
"Kerala stands firm in its resolve and will resist every attempt to subvert states' constitutional rights," Vijayan said.
