It was one of those hot summer nights in Washington, D.C. July 23, that forced Democratic politicos, both Indian and non-Indian, inside the Kennedy Center rather than on the terrace with its view of the wide Potomac River and blinking lights of the distant Georgetown boardwalk, as they celebrated the rising ranks of their candidates.

The more than 200 guests on the rooftop of Kennedy Center included political activists, administration officials attending in their personal capacity, business persons, academics and interns.

It was a display of where the community has come on the political spectrum – six candidates are running for Congress this year, four of them were present at the event; several others are running for state and local offices; and virtually all of them hold out a greater possibility of being elected than ever before.
The Kennedy Center pulled out all stops co-hosting a reception with the Indian-American Leadership Initiative (IALI), in anticipation of its 2011 “Maximum India” event.

The annual conference was underwritten by ABSi Corporation’s Rajeev and Seema Sharma, advisory board members of IALI.
As refreshments made the rounds, alternating purple, blue and yellow aura lights covered the gathering as silk drapes swayed in the breeze.

 Rajeev Sharma, in his remarks at the reception likened the current era to that of President John F. Kennedy - young presidents facing unprecedented challenges. A copy of the remarks was given to News India Times.

“In some ways these parallels can be used to describe our community as well. We are a relatively young community, one of the most recent additions to America’s multicultural quilt. And we have vigor, we are an extraordinarily accomplished community whether it’s academia, business, or the any of the very impressive careers of people who are with us here tonight,” he said.

“We are showing up in popular media too, which I find very interesting.  But, the last frontier for our community, where we have yet to make a mark is politics where for too long we have been outside the mainstream.  But that too is changing.”

“Several administration officials were also there but they came in their personal capacity and in no way represented their office. I had dreamed that they would come, and they did, Raj Shah, Neal Katyal, Preeta Bansal, Vivek Kundra …,” Anurag Varma, vice president of IALI who is with the lobbying firm Patton Boggs, told News India Times.

The reception preceded the next day’s national conference attended by some 200 eager-beaver Democrats and some veterans wanting to share their experiences.

Several panels on the brass tacks of how to select winning candidates, how to support them and how to use funds wisely in campaigns generated vigorous discussions. The highlight was British pop star Jay Sean, who addressed young activists and joined candidates in these discussions.

“In a nutshell, the takeaway (from the conference) was we are witnessing tremendous potential of Indian American representation on the political spectrum,” Kathy Kulkarni, president of IALI told News India Times. “For Democrats, there’s been a renaissance in political participation. So potentially, we are at a breakthrough point to take Indian-Americans to the next level.”

She acknowledged that Nikki Randhawa Haley, Republican candidate for South Carolina governor, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal have garnered considerably more national attention than the Democratic candidates, but we “are very happy for them because it is very difficult to overcome some prejudices in the Republican Party.”

This year’s conference, titled “Supporting Our Political Pioneers,” took place in the midst of an election year with an unprecedented number of Indian-American Democratic candidates running for federal, state and local offices with IALI’s support, the organizers said.

Manan Trivedi, Democratic candidate for Congress from Pennsylvania’s 6th District, complimented the organizers for encouraging candidates and the community to enter public service, according to a press release from IALI.

Ami Bera, Democratic candidate in California’s 3rd Congressional District, came for the reception but could not stay for the panel discussions.
 
Varma in his brief presentation during the Kennedy Center function talked of the organization’s objectives. He acknowledged Maryland Assembly Majority Leader Kumar Barve’s contributions. “He ran twenty years ago and he always looked forward and supported those who came after him,” Varma said.
According to him, registration data showed half the attendees were from the private sector and half were students and from government or public sector - from summer interns, medical students, to physicians, researchers, academics, sociologists and business persons.

The panels, Varma told News India Times, were the “meat and potatoes” of the conference. It was held at the Marvin Center grand ballroom at George Washington University.

What we are doing to find leaders, help them, where do we go from here, and how do we spend the money wisely were all up to debate and intense discussion in a panel moderated by former Democratic congressional candidate Ashwin Madia, an Iraq war veteran, along with three current candidates, Raj Goyle from Kansas’ 4th District, Trivedi, and Ravi Sangisetty from Louisiana’s 3rd.

The three major panels were “Finding the Next Generation Indian-American Candidate,” “Election and Re-election of Indian-American Candidates” and “Supporting our Candidates: Stretching the Indian-American Dollar.”

The panelists and moderators included Sandhya Somashekhar, The Washington Post; Barve; Peter Brodnitz, principal, Benenson Strategy Group; Karin Johanson, Dewey Square Group; Shekar Narasimhan, co-chair, Democratic National Committee Indo-American Council; as well as Madia, Goyle, Sangisetty and Trivedi.

Kulkarni was the keynote speaker at the luncheon. The after-lunch panels included CNN’s former Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno; Ohio State Rep Jay Goyal; Kris Kolluri, former New Jersey cabinet secretary; Neera Tanden, chief operating officer of Center for American Progress and former Obama administration official; and Margie Omero, president of Momentum Analysis.

The evening reception for young professionals, titled “Behind The Mic: Jay Sean and the New Era of Indian Americans in Politics” featured the multiple-platinum artist with candidates.

“I heard some attendees saying they did not want sessions to end,” Varma said.

“Everyone swelled with pride. They felt - that’s my brother on the stage running for election. And the candidates on stage -representing future congressmen - they were young, charismatic and knew their stuff.”