Indian-origin millionaire Thanedar elected to Michigan state legislature in US
Houston: Shri Thanedar, an Indian-origin millionaire businessman who ran for Governor two years ago, has been elected to the House of Representatives in Michigan with 93 per cent votes.
Thanedar, 65, also a scientist, raised a record-breaking USD 438,620, primarily from his own wealth, in the state House primary against six other opponents of the Democratic Party.
The former gubernatorial hopeful cashed in on his high name familiarity after he moved from Ann Arbor to Detroit after losing the 2018 primary. His campaign two years ago featured a heavy dose of "Shri for We" television ads.
He won from the 3rd District of Michigan with 93 per cent of the total votes.
Thanedar had spent almost USD 10 million of his own fortune to finish third behind Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Abdul El Sayed in the 2018 gubernatorial primary, but he won the most votes in Detroit.
Originally from Karnataka's Belgaum, he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at 18 and master's degree from University of Bombay. Later, he migrated to the US in 1979 to pursue higher studies from University of Akron and later University of Michigan.
Thanedar told the media in a recent interview that he began campaigning last fall prior to the pandemic and has spent time during the outbreak passing out masks, hand sanitiser and door knockers.
He said that he wants to tackle a long list of challenges plaguing his district, including blight, water shutoffs, foreclosures, crime and unemployment.
"I'm seeing people have no hope. Conditions are really bad and nothing has changed in years. People are disenfranchised. I've slept and ate on the floor, with no running water," Thanedar said, referring to his upbringing in India.
"I understand the pain of poverty, he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
What Trump did to Maduro, Modi has done to Nitish Kumar: Cong's Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday took a swipe at the BJP over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to move to the Rajya Sabha, saying what US President Donald Trump did to then Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now done to the JD(U) chief.
He also said that Kumar's decision to step down as chief minister is a betrayal of the mandate the people gave in assembly polls in November last year. Ramesh said the people of the state voted for Kumar's re-election and not for a BJP chief minister.
Ramesh's remarks came a day after JD(U) chief Kumar filed nomination papers for Rajya Sabha elections, marking a turning point in Bihar politics and virtually bringing the curtain down on his tenure as the state's longest-serving chief minister. The move has paved the way for a new government in the Hindi heartland state, likely to be headed by the BJP.
Expressing gratitude to the people of the state, Kumar had said on X, "For more than two decades, you have consistently placed your trust and support in me, and it is on the strength of that trust that we have served Bihar and all of you with complete dedication. It is the power of your trust and support that has enabled Bihar today to present a new dimension of development and dignity."
Asked about this major development in Bihar politics, Ramesh told PTI, "During the Bihar election campaign, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, had said that Nitish Kumar would not remain chief minister for long because the BJP's aim was to remove him. Ultimately, that is what happened."
Kumar hasn't even been chief minister for four months in the present term and he's being removed, Ramesh said.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Modi and the BJP, Ramesh said, "What Trump did to Maduro, Modi ji has done to Nitish Kumar. This is a coup"
The US military had seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their Caracas home on January 3 in a stunning operation that landed them in New York to face federal drug trafficking charges.
On Kumar's move to the Rajya Sabha, Ramesh said, "This was inevitable. This is a betrayal of the people of Bihar and the mandate they gave."
The mandate wasn't to make a BJP chief minister, but to make Nitish Kumar the chief minister.
"It's possible that tomorrow, (Chandrababu) Naidu is brought here and made a minister, a coup can happen there too. There was a coup in Maharashtra too, the split the NCP and Shiv Sena... This is all the work of the 'G2'," Ramesh said.
He said the Congress just has six MLAs in Bihar but it will continue to raise the issues of the people and Kumar's move to Rajya Sabha is a "betrayal of the mandate".
The Congress on Thursday had said a "leadership coup and regime change orchestrated by G2" has taken place and is a "huge betrayal" of the mandate of the people.
