DALLAS, TX: Several prominent leaders of Dallas Indian community gave a rousing welcome to Raja Krishnamoorthi, an aspiring and leading Democratic Party candidate for the 8th Congressional District of Illinois.
Illinois’ 8th Congressional district leans strongly Democratic and covers Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties. President Obama won the district by 17 points in 2012.
Over 30 supporters and friends of Raja met at the residence of Sai Sathish and Dr Prasanthi Ganesa in Colleyville, TX. Dr Prasad Thotakura made introductory remarks where he expressed his fond hope to see Raja as the next US Congressman after Dalip Singh Saund (US Congress member from the 29th District of California from January 3, 1957 to January 3, 1963), Bobby Jindal (US Congress Member from the 1st District of Louisiana from 2004 – 2007) and Dr Ami Bera (current US Congressman from 7th Congressional District of California).
MVL Prasad in his formal introduction traced Raja’s humble beginning and touched upon the successes Raja had made in his campaign so far.
Raja talked about his roots as the son of immigrant parents, hardships they went through and how that has translated into a passion to make the lives of under-privileged to achieve economic and academic success. He said that he is the leading contender to the position with over 100 endorsements from leading Democrats in Illinois and the rest of USA.
Several attendees put their questions about the Congressional elections, funding etc. during the Q&A session, which was followed by a sumptuous dinner.
The Dallas Friends and Supporters of Raja include Dr Prasad Thotakura, MVL Prasad, Paul Pandian, CC Theophine, Piyush Patel, Dr Jai Kumar, Dr Rajiv Panditi, Rao Kalvala, Dr C.R. Rao, Sridhar Tummala, Murali Vennam, Sai Sathish.
Dr Prasanthi Ganesa, Satyan Kalyandurg, John, Anand Dasari, Abhinav, Amrit Kriplani, Balki Chemakura, Murali Mallina, Venu and Mahesh Guduru opened their hearts and valets.
The Democratic primaries are due on March 15, 2016 winning of which will indicate Raja’s future as the next Congressman from Illinois’s 8th Congressional District. The meeting concluded with everybody wishing Raja their best in this Congressional race.
Son of Indian immigrants to US, Raja was raised in Peoria, Illinois, where he attended public schools and graduated as a valedictorian of his high school class. Raja earned his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in mechanical engineering from Princeton University and graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. Raja currently serves as President of Sivananthan Labs and Episolar, Inc., a small business that sell products in the national security and renewable energy industries.
Surendra Ullal