No Indian American candidate answered questions.
Not a single major party Indian American candidate contesting the US Congress or Senate race in the Nov. 8 elections, responded to a new survey by R.S. Jolly Consulting, the Washington D.C.-based advocacy and communications firm, on issues pertaining to the community, including expansion of the H-1B visa program and allowing Sikhs to serve in the military with their articles of faith intact.
However, out of the more than 100 Congressional candidates who were queried, some of them did support ending the country-based caps on Green Cards, as well as support for Sikhs in the US military and strong condemnation of Pakistan for terrorist activities.
R.S. Jolly Consulting, who conducted the ‘2016 Candidate Questionnaire on Indian-American Issues,’ received 61 responses in total, according to Rajdeep Singh Jolly — the founder of the firm. Jolly published the responses unedited on Nov. 1, reported NBC News.
“These survey results show that political candidates have diverse approaches to resolving issues of interest to the Indian-American community and that voters have important choices to make in this election,” Jolly told NBC News. “As Indian-Americans increase their civic engagement, I hope we continue to engage with candidates before and after elections to ensure that they are responsive and accountable to our community.”
The Indian American vote could be decisive in some competitive races, according to Jolly, such as California’s 17th District in Silicon Valley, where incumbent Democrat Rep. Mike Honda faces challenger Democrat Ro Khanna.
Khanna, who has been endorsed by major newspapers, is seen to be having an edge in the race, the second consecutive one for him against the veteran Honda.
Jolly said he focused on districts where incumbents are members of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans and also characterized the survey as a public service to create awareness among elected officials about Indian-American issues as well as to strengthen the civic engagement of the Indian-American community.
“My long-term goals are to deploy this questionnaire at the federal level every two years and expand into state and local elections,” Jolly said. “Asian Americans, including Indian Americans, have one of the lowest voter participation rates in the country, and if I can inspire more of them to vote, that will be the real victory.”
He added: “One of the questions specifically relates to caste discrimination. This is an extremely sensitive topic for many Indians, but it is something that needs to be brought out of the shadows and addressed.”
California Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu was one of those who supported removing the country-based cap on Green Cards, which has adversely affected skilled professionals from India, as the waiting time and bottlenecks increased.
Nevada Republican Congressman Joe Heck played it safe by advocating the need for the program, but not at the cost of American jobs.
“Restricting the issuance of H-1B visas could adversely affect companies driving innovation in these growing industries,” said Heck.