VENKAT NAGARAJAN
Why does an ethnically diverse district in which the median income of households is $141,000 per annum need an anti-poverty and anti-fascism campaign? This is probably the question that arises in the minds of many reasonable-minded people in Ro Khanna’s district and around the country.
The answer to the question is simple. Khanna has no interest in representing the interests of his constituents. Instead, he is focused on buttressing his progressive credentials, so that he can leverage it to secure higher positions and a prominent position in a future “progressive” Democratic administration.
Khanna’s disdain for his constituents is demonstrated by the amount of time and energy he spends on issues that are either not a priority for his constituents or completely irrelevant. Khanna has also demonstrated utter disregard for his constituents by taking positions that are antithetical to their interests.
Lastly, Khanna has shown absolute contempt for his constituents by taking unprincipled positions to curry favor with the most extreme elements of the Democratic Party.
Khanna, a multi-millionaire and the 15th richest member of the Congress, lives a life of privilege and luxury but has anointed himself as an anti-poverty crusader and a messiah of plurality. To lend credence to his self-created image, he became a co-chair of Bernie Sanders’s national campaign and has been pushing policies and issues that are of little value or interest to most of the residents in his district. Specifically, he has been busy promoting Medicare for all, a $15 minimum wage, and other socialistic policies of Sanders on social media and elsewhere.
Khanna does not have any concerns that Sanders’ brand of socialism is not palatable to most residents of his district, but he nevertheless pursues it relentlessly. Khanna’s crusade is not driven by compassion or distress for the poor or real concerns about plurality. Lust for power and ambition for higher office, it seems, are the true catalysts.
Despite originally campaigning as a centrist Democrat, Khanna became a hard-core progressive Democrat, once his competition disappeared. To prove that he is an authentic progressive, he joined the Congressional Pakistan Caucus.
He did that despite knowing that such a move goes against the interests of a large swath of the citizens of his district. He then went further by alluding that many Hindus, including Hindu-Americans in his district, are non-pluralistic in their outlook.
Although this provocative allusion was both an outright lie and a mischievous political ploy that any reasonable person would summarily dismiss, he doubled down on the false portrayal by getting his surrogates, including radical anti-Hindu agitators, to promote this false allegation.
In taking these actions, Khanna did not worry about the potential adverse implications of these actions for his re-election bid in 2020. He figured that his constituents are ill-informed and will blindly follow him or that he will win even if he loses some vote share since he has no real competition.
Khanna’s deceitful behavior should be concerning not only to Hindu-Americans but also to people of other religious affiliations. For now, Khanna has decided to victimize Hindu-Americans to achieve his goals. Tomorrow, he may decide to pick on other groups.
Khanna has been unabashedly cosying up to the radical members of the Progressive Caucus, the Squad. He was one of the first lawmakers to co-sponsor Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s outlandish New Green Deal resolution. He has also refused to condemn Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib for their hateful anti-Semitic comments, which have been condemned by many senior Democrats.
Additionally, one can reasonably conclude that Khanna joined the Congressional Pakistan Caucus to please Omar and Talib, both of whom are apologists for Islamic radicals and have shown nothing but contempt for India and Hindus. These actions clearly show that Khanna will do anything to satisfy his lust for power, even if it means taking illiberal and unscrupulous positions and disrespecting the sentiments of a large swath of his voters.
Ro Khanna, one of the 15 richest members of Congress, is trying to masquerade as a crusader for the poor and a paragon of plurality. In reality, he is an unscrupulous charlatan who is spreading misinformation and creating divisions within American society by aligning with extremists and targeting vulnerable Hindus. For America’s sake, I hope he does not win re-election in 2020 or more importantly, obtain a post of importance in any future Democratic administration.
(The views expressed are personal.)
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