Raja Krishnamurthi had left India as a toddler, but 42-years later, still understands Tamil, the language both his parents speak. “Reply, I do in English,” Mr. Krishnamurthi told The Hindu by phone from Chicago. “There can be confusion, otherwise,” he chortled. “”It has always been a one-way affair. But I still understand Tamil extremely well.”
Mr. Krishnamurthi is the Democratic nominee for the 8th Congressional District of Illinois, in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago and appears firm on the path to be a member of the U.S. Congress by winning the November general elections. The U.S Congress now has only one member of Indian descent -- Ami Bera, who is seeking reelection from California.
You can call me Raja
“Oh, thank you!” a senior citizen who was struggling with the surname sighs, after Mr. Krishnamurthi tells him that he could call him Raja, in one of his campaign ads, ‘Meet Raja.’
“I have a long name and a short time to introduce myself,” the ad shows Mr. Krishnamurthi saying, as he meets voters in parking lots, diners and shopping malls. “I am Raja and I am the progressive candidate,” he tells them, and makes a specific commitment to support social security. “My parents are on social security. It is a personal issue.”
Politically initiated by Obama
Engineer, lawyer and entrepreneur, Mr. Krishnamurthi’s political initiation came through his association with none other than President Barack Obama. “It was in 1998 that I first met him,” Mr. Krishnamurthi says about Mr. Obama who was then an Illinois State Senator. “In 1999, I worked for his campaign as a low level researcher,” he recalls.
Mr. Obama’s 1999 campaign for Congress did not take off and he could not displace Bobby Rush as the Democratic nominee in the 1st Congressional District. In 2002, Mr. Obama invited Mr. Krishnamurthi to join as the policy director of his senate election campaign.
“’I have one more race left in me,’ the President told me then. I jumped onboard,” said Mr Krishnamurthi, who also worked as an adviser to Mr. Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Obama is his inspiration too
It was Mr. Obama’s trailblazing political ascent that inspired Mr. Krishnamurthi too. “The President’s Senate victory in 2004 and his subsequent rise was clear proof that if you are hardworking and committed, nothing else matters. Your race, your background or your status,” he said. Mr. Krishnamurthi challenged the sitting Congresswoman and seasoned Democrat Tammy Duckworth in the last election cycle but could not succeed. She is not seeking reelection this time as she is running for the U.S. Senate from Illinois.
Mr. Krishnamurthi won a triangular contest for Democratic nomination and in November, will face off with Peter DiCianni of the Republican Party.
He was born in New Delhi
Mr. Krishnamurthi was born in Delhi where his maternal grandfather worked with the Indian Defence Ministry. His father came to New York for a PhD and Mr. Krishnamurthi spent his early childhood there. He later grew up in Peoria, Illnois, where the senior Krishnamurthi taught industrial engineering for 40 years.
Mr. Krishnamurthi has an engineering degree from Princeton University a law degree from Harvard University and has founded a small business, Sivananthan Labs and Episolar, Inc that develops and sells products in the national security and renewable energy industries. Mr. Krishnamurthi, who also served as Deputy Treasurer of Illinois from 2007-2009, believes it the future of American middle class is in small businesses.
Endorsed by 3 big Chicago papers
Many among the original Obama crowd have come around with Mr. Krishnamurthi, who has been endorsed by Chicago’s three biggest newspapers and several prominent individuals and groups. His campaign has been a huge success in terms of fund raising too – now there is $1.6 million in his kitty and counting – a key American indicator of political success. President Obama has not been in direct touch – sitting Presidents do not get involved in elections – but David Axelrod, the key strategist of his presidential campaigns is fully supportive of Mr. Krishnamurthi’s campaign.
Seeking to revive U.S. middle class
Reviving the American middle class is Mr. Krishnamurthi’s key campaign plank and as a person of Indian origin, he cannot escape the question on H-1B visas, a major debate in the ongoing campaign in the U.S. “Donald Trump wanted to eliminate the H-1B visas but then someone whispered into his ears that doing so would wipe out the IT and high tech industry. Some of these folks are misinformed. We have to do our part to educate them and at the same time, we also have to cultivate local, indigenous talent in the U.S. These are the jobs of the 21 century and unless they are trained in these jobs, they will not be able to climb the economic ladder,” Mr. Krishnamurthi said.
For a win-win solution
“There has to be win-win solution. If we have some cool, calm discussions about it, we can address a lot of concerns on both sides. Right now there is a lot of rhetoric around it.” This is one discussion where Tamil will come handy for Mr. Krishnamurthi.
