Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
CHICAGO: The much trumpeted Mayoral Candidates Forum event hosted by Voters of Indian Americans here at Taft High school turned out to be a whimper with most of the front runners in the Mayoral race not coming to the event and the TV Anchor Ravi Buchwald also getting conspicuous by his absence
Rishi Agarwal stepped in place of Ravi and he did remarkably good job. And so also the three main organizers behind VIA- Dr Bharat Barai, Dr Anuja Gupta and Sanjay Singh. The trio was brief in their address explaining the main purpose driving them to have this event and also briefing again about the objectives behind VIA organization.
The saving grace was the audience which was strong displaying the fact that Indian Americans have been getting conscious about the importance of their votes and would like to have first hand feel of the candidates in an election fray. Despite it being Sunday and the weather very cold and cloudy, they streamed in large numbers. This should have gladdened the hears of organizers as it helped serve the main purpose behind VIA existence – getting the candidates running for the election know that Indian Americans though in small number need to be counted too
The Mayoral Candidates present at the event were: Gary McCarthy, Paul Wallace, Amara Enyia, Bob Foretti, La Shawn Ford and John Kozlar.
They responded to the questions put by the moderator Rishi Agarwal covering the main objectives they have before them for running, ending corruption, education, and helping Indian American small businessmen. All the candidates responded well and those in the audience applauded whenever they felt that the responses needed cheering up.
As explained by Dr Anuja, hosting the first event of Voice of Indian-American Voters (VIA) – the Chicago Mayoral Candidates Forum – felt like a great adventure in a new area. There was a great turnout by Chicago’s mayoral candidates and the community. The event if taken positively is a wakeup call for Indian Americans here. They have to put in hard work to get their views and concerns properly understood and addressed by the elected officials. It underlined the fact that unity is strength and the Indian Americans need to get united to have their voices felt at the right quarters.
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