Team Blitz India
Nearly 60 prominent members of the Indian community from New York and New Jersey, including business leaders, community activists, and heads of several organisations assembled to kick off an initiative to increase the membership of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans. The event hosted by Ratna and Varinder Bhalla was inspired by Consul General of India, Ambassador Binaya Pradhan. Noting the declining membership of the caucus, Pradhan had reportedly asked Bhalla, Chairman of the Indian American Voters Forum, to launch a membership drive.
Bhalla discussed the plan with Congressman Tom Suozzi, who enthusiastically endorsed the initiative. India Caucus is a bipartisan coalition of American lawmakers aimed at advocating the interests of the IndianAmerican community and strengthening relations between India and the United States.
Committee set up
India Caucus was founded in 1993, initially with nearly 100 congressmen; over the years, its membership fluctuated, peaking at 200 and currently only 109. The Indian American Voters Forum, the brainchild of Varinder Bhalla, was founded in 2008 to enhance the participation of the Indian community in the political mainstream.
With inspiration from Ambassador Pradhan, earlier this month, a committee was formed with an objective of increasing the membership of the India Caucus.
With Bhalla as Chairman, the committee includes Padmashri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Padmashri Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori, Dr. Thomas Abraham, Dr. Sunil Mehra, Rajeev Bhambri, Ratna Bhalla, Gobind Munjal, Gunjan Rastogi, Sudhir Vaishnav, and Dev Vishwanath.
The first success
The launch of the committee had its first success when Congressman Tom Suozzi committed to join the India Caucus and use his influence to bring in other congressional leaders into the Caucus.
Judge Anthony Paradiso welcomed the Ambassador on behalf of the judiciary of New York. Dr. Sudha Parikh welcomed the Ambassador with flowers. Ambassador Pradhan called Suozzi a “‘friend of India.” In his closing remarks, he enumerated numerous advantages for both India and the United States that occurred after the formation of the India Caucus. In a jaw-dropping surprise of the evening, Congressman Suozzi entertained the guests with a famous Frank Sinatra song.
