In April 2016, at a reception for the incoming Consul General of India, Riva Ganguly Das, hosted by the Indian American Voters Forum, Tom Suozzi, then a candidate for election to the US Congress, had announced that if elected, he would join the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. On June 3, the Forum honored Congressman Suozzi at a special reception held after he enrolled himself in the India Caucus.
Suozzi, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced, “As part of the India Caucus and as a Representative and friend of so many Indian Americans, I hope to play a special role in enhancing the relationship between our two countries.
India and the United States share a special bond based on the shared values of democracy, the rule of law and belief in the intrinsic value of every human being.
It is essential that during these times of globalization and accelerating technology, as well as threats from common enemies, that the United States and India strengthen our bonds of friendship and collaboration.”
Dr. Yash Pal Arya, senior member of the Indian American Voters Forum, outlined its mission including voter registration drives, screening political candidates running for elections, conducting their debates and, most importantly, spearheading a drive to recruit members of Congress into the India Caucus.
“Nearly 200 members of Congress were part of the India Caucus when it was founded in 1992, with a goal to strengthen ties between the world’s largest democracy and the world’s oldest democracy.Over the years, membership declined significantly as some congressional leaders retired and others lost elections.
Unfortunately, in the intervening years, there was no initiative by our community members to connect with their representatives to join the Caucus,” says Varinder Bhalla, Chairman & Founder of the Indian American Voters Forum.
“So we started the campaign to bring in congressional leaders into the India Caucus. In 2010, we connected with US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to join the Senate India Caucus. Last year we recruited Congresswoman Kathleen Rice to join the House Caucus on India and Indian Americans and now we are proud to bring Congressman Suozzi into the Caucus.”
“Indian American Voters Forum is a bipartisan committee of community activists, not beholden to any political party. “says Gunjan Rastogi, a member of the Forum and Vice President of the India Association of Long Island.
Last year, Tom Suozzi committed to join the India Caucus, when the Forum endorsed him and led the campaign to mobilize the Indian American community to support him in the primary and general election. “We plan to support him wholeheartedly in his coming re-election bid as well”, says Gobind Bathija.
Nearly 60 prominent members of the Indian community gathered at the reception to applaud Suozzi and express their unwavering support to him; among them, Padam Shree Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori, Dr. Ajay Lodha, President of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, H K Shah, Founder of Vegetarian Vision, Chandra Mehta, President of Vegetarian Vision, Dr. Urmilesh Arya, Sunil Modi & Rohit Vyas, all three former Presidents of the NY Chapter of the Association of Indians in America.
Also present to lend support to Suozzi were Naveen Shah, President & Chief Executive of Navika Group of Companies, a real estate investment group; Kanak Golia, President & CEO of the Perfume Center of America, KK Mehta, successful hotelier and President of a large CPA firm, Dr. Nirmal Mattoo, former CEO of Wyckoff Hospital, Sudhir Vaishnav, CEO of Sahara Television of North America, Dev Viswanath, President of ITV, the oldest Indian TV network in America, and Gaurang Parikh, President of GP Insurance.
The audience was enthralled by a surprise performance by the Congressman. Suozzi sang two songs after the Master of Ceremonies Riti Bhalla and the SA RE GA MA PA star Vishal Bhalla entertained guests with their musical performances.
Founded in 2003, the Indian American Voters Forum has also been instrumental in getting numerous governors, senators and congressional leaders to participate in the celebrations of India Independence Day and Republic Day televised across the US.
India Post News Service
