NASHUA, N.H. (Jan. 5) — Presidential candidates court the votes of Americans of Indian origin.
“If you don’t vote for me on Tuesday — shame on you!” former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, a Democratic candidate for presidency told a gathering of the Indian Association of New Hampshire on Saturday. He and representatives from Republican Ron Paul’s campaign were at a town hall meeting organized by the group. Both the campaigners were one-on-one with the voters and pitched plans to serve the country better, if elected as president.
But their efforts failed to muster much support.
Brijesh Jha, who works for Oracle, described the candidates’ speeches as “drama” that was unpersuasive. “It was good to hear from them, but my views have not changed,” he said. He supports Democrat Barack Obama, the Illinois senator. “He has a kind of depth,” said Jha, “and not make some insane decisions that could actually have long-term impact.”
Vijay Boyapati, who led Ron Paul’s campaign at the meeting, urged voters to vote for Paul and help restore the principles of limited government on which the country was founded. “It’s not specifically for the Indian community. It’s for all Americans,” Boyapati said. “It’s increasing freedom for all Americans and reducing the role of government.”
President of the Association, Prithvi Kala Kumar, said that, the meeting was an open forum for the presidential candidates to communicate with the voters one-on-one and “let people decide” among them. “We don’t want to rally behind somebody,” Kumar said. “It is our duty to present all the options.”
The Indian Association of New Hampshire is a non-partisan organisation that was founded in 1989. It is comprised of 400 Indian families in a state that has over 5,000 Indians. The Association has been active in organising cultural activities and raising money to send help in crisis back home.
The group’s secretary, Tej Dhakar, characterized the majority of the Indian community in New Hampshire as leaning toward the Democratic party. “They are not very happy with the present administration,” he said.
For the voters and the candidates, two issues stood out: immigration and outsourcing. Boyapati, who represented Republican Ron Paul’s campaign, supported ending illegal immigration and expanding legal immigration.
But Democratic candidate Gravel offered to eliminate fences at the border and have “one world.” He welcomed talent from India. “Outsourcing is great.”
Usha Dwarak, who came to the U.S. 16 years ago, also strongly supported open immigration policies. “This country is about immigrants. Influx of talent has to keep coming in,” Dwarak said. “This country is nothing without immigrants.”
(Trina Joshi, a magazine-newspaper-online journalism graduate student, is covering the New Hampshire primaries for The Indian Express of New Delhi, India.)
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