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NORTH AmERIcAN Newsline NOVEMBER 27, 2020 | The Indian Eye 17

winners joined through video, from top left clockwise, raghib Allie-Brennan, harry Arora, Nima Kulkarni, Padma Kuppa;
shri thanedar, Dr. Amish shah, Dr. Nikil saval, Kesha ram and Dr. Nikil saval

meet with the voters. He promised to en- Hindu heritage, Kuppa had never contest- She said she shares her Indian culture in
sure basic amenities for all his constituents. ed in any election before running for state her talks, and that mainstream people ap-
Connecticut Representative Raghib Al- legislature. There is three-term limit for preciate it. She also coined the term ‘Idli
lie-Brennan, Democrat, elected from the House members and so she can contest for Caucus’ to describe South Indian repre-
2nd District noted his Guyanese and Irish another term after this one. She said she sentatives while Congressman Raja Krish-
Catholic origins. This is his second term was also happy to have two more Indians in namoorthy has called the Indian American
and he has plans to run for Congress in the the legislature now: Ranjeev Puri, a Dem- Congress delegation the samosa caucus.
future. ocrat elected from District 21 and Dr. Shri Mangipudi has promised to cook Mysore
Harry Arora, Republican, elected to Thanedar, 65, Democrat, elected from 3rd Masala Dosas for visitors.
Connecticut House 151st District for a sec- District. Kesha Ram, Democrat, the first woman
ond term, expressed his joy to meet with Thanedar said he ran for Michigan gov- of color elected to Vermont State House
people with similar background as his own. ernor in 2018 winning 18 percent votes. This and later Senate noted her Hindu/Jewish
Niraj Antani, 29, a Republican who in time he ran from Detroit, where 90 percent ancestry. She became a House Represen-
2014 became the youngest member of the of the voters are African American. Tha- tative in 2008 when she was only 21 years
Ohio State House, has been elected this nedar is an entrepreneur and scientist, with old. She thanked Latha Mangipudi for the
year as Ohio’s first Indian American state a PhD in chemistry, who once employed help and support.
senator – from District 6. He described the 500 people. He plans to work to uplift the Dr. Amish Shah, a Democrat re-elected
journey his parents took from India and his African American community and help its to Arizona State House, joined the meeting
own achievements. members become entrepreneurs and thus in scrubs since he was working at the hos-
Attorney and professor Jay Chaudhuri, create a new Black Wall Street in Detroit. pital. His district includes parts of Phoenix.
a Democrat who in 2016 became the first Ranjeev Puri noted his Sikh heritage He spoke about his work for the communi-
Indian American to become a state senator and his plans to work to improve the life of ty and also how the state is changing from
in North Carolina, spoke about his work his constituents. red to blue.
and the voters’ confidence in him that saw Jenifer Rajkumar, 38, Democrat, an at- Dr. Tushar Patel, GOPIO Health Coun-
him re-elected to a third term. torney and professor, noted a few records cil Chair said that GOPIO chapters would
Immigration attorney Nima Kulkarni, she created. She is the first South Asian be enablers in promoting community in-
Democrat, who was elected to Kentucky woman and Hindu elected to the New York volvement, especially the youngsters, in the
House from the 40th District, said there State House. She defeated a 11-year in- political process. He also noted the work
are only a handful of Indians in the constit- cumbent. She said the role of government Abraham has been doing for the commu-
uency. She defeated a 22-year incumbent. has become more important in crises like nity for many decades.
Padma Kuppa, Democrat, who was the pandemic. The program ended with a closing re-
re-elected from the Michigan House’s 41st Latha Mangipudi, a Democrat elected marks and vote of thanks by GOPIO-Man-
District, described her excitement, when to New Hampshire House’s 35th District hattan President Shivender Sofat, who
she was first elected. An engineer by pro- for a fifth term, noted the help GOPIO urged community to become a member of
fession, and one who takes pride on her and IMPACT gave her in her campaign. GOPIO International or any of the chapters.

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