American Republican launches Congressional Hindu Caucus
Washington (Uttam Hindu News): US Republican lawmakers have launched the Congressional Hindu Caucus, which will be the second but largest caucus to date to advocate for issues related to the community of Hindu Americans. “Today I am very excited to announce the official launch of the Congressional Hindu Caucus in the US Congress,” Elise Stefanik, the fourth-ranking member of Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, said at an event hosted by Shalabh Shalli Kumar on Wednesday.
Shalli Kumar is a prominent Indian-American fundraiser for the party and especially former President Donald Trump. This caucus is his initiative and work on it has been going on for some time. It is the second Congressional caucus launched to represent Hindu Americans, who are largely Indians of Indian origin, who are increasingly choosing to identify themselves based on their religion rather than their country of origin. But it also describes itself as representative of the Sikh, Jain and Buddhist communities.
The caucus, which is chaired by Mr. Thanedar, a first-term Democratic congressman, ran into controversy when Sikh Americans, who run a well-funded lobbying effort of their own, challenged its claim to represent them. Gave. It has not generated much support even among MPs. In comparison, Stefanik’s Hindu caucus has made a great start. He read off a list of 10 or more fellow Republican lawmakers. He had come voluntarily to join the caucus, but not everyone was present, he said. One of them was Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis.
She had come to personally express her regret for not being able to attend the event. When this reporter asked him the reason for joining the caucus, he said, “There is a growing Indian community in my district.” “We have a Hindu temple, which I go to every year to celebrate, be it Diwali or any other holidays. I have really built a great relationship with the Hindu community and want to be able to help especially now because of the relationship between the US and India at a very strategic time.
Indian-Americans are a growing community with widely recognized financial strength and a high median household income. Their political clout is also increasing because of their donations, although many of them are also running for political positions ranging from city councils to Congress and the White House. It was claimed in the program that their number is estimated to be around 6 million.
Kumar rose to prominence in the Indo-US world when he launched a campaign in 2013 to lobby US authorities to grant a visa to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. “This caucus will support laws and issues important to Hindu Americans,” Kumar said at the launch of the Congressional Hindu Caucus.
