Indian Americans win polls, make history

Two other Indian Americans Dimple Ajmera and Mano Raju were elected to local bodies in North Carolina and California respectively.

Indian American Ghazala Hashmi made history Wednesday when she became the first Muslim woman elected to the senate of Virginia state helping, in the process, Democrats take control of the chamber from Republicans.

Indian American Ghazala Hashmi (AP file photo)

Suhas Subramanyam, another Indian American, was elected to Virginia state’s lower chamber, the House of Delegates, which Democrats also wrested from Republicans.

Two other Indian Americans Dimple Ajmera and Mano Raju were elected to local bodies in North Carolina and California respectively.

More Indian Americans are running for public office increasingly, and winning. There are four of them in the US House of Representatives and one in the US Senate, forming what they jokingly call as the “Samosa Caucus”. One of them, Senator Kamala Harris is running for president.

They are all Democrats, as are Hashmi and Subramanyam.

“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,” Hashmi, a former college professor, wrote on Twitter after her landmark victory. This was her first run.

Subramanyam, a former member of President Barack Obama’s technology team, also won on his first crack at public life. He ran from a district with a large presence of Indian Americans. In fact, among those he defeated was another Indian American, Akshay Bhamidipati.

“Incredibly honored to be elected to the VA House last night and to join a @vademocrats majority,” Subramanyam wrote on Twitter. “Thank you so much to the voters of HD-87 for making your voice heard, and thank you to the vols, staff, donors, friends and family who all made this possible.”