Himani Sanagaram –
The current American election has seen a significant rise in the number of Indian Americans candidates. Many Indian Americans, especially women, are vying for political positions. Pramila Jayapal, Nikki Haley, Bhavini Patel are just a few.
There is a distinct change in the pride that Indian Americans have about their identity though. If earlier former Louisiana Governor Piyush Jindal had to be become Bobby Jindal and changed his religion, or Nimrata Kaur Randhawa became Nikki Haley, “Now we do not have to change our names or religion,” asserts Indian American Minita Sanghvi, who could become the first gay woman in the New York State Senate this year.
“I will use my position to help build a bridge between India and United States for any issue,” Sanghvi, 47, told indica.
Sanghvi is an Associate Professor (Management & Business) at Skidmore College, in Saratoga Springs where she lives with her wife Megan and their nine-year-old son Jamie.
“I feel I got so much more from America than from India and I feel a deep commitment to give back to a country like America,” Sanghvi said. She is contesting for the 44th Senate district from New York against James Nicholas Tedisco.
Sanghvi, a Gujarati by birth from Mumbai, India, previously worked for Walmart and ran her own business, before turning to academia. She came to America in 2001 and is currently serving her second term as Finance Commissioner of Saratoga Springs.
In 2021, she was elected to the Saratoga City Council, while she served on the library board from 2016-2021.
Sanghvi said she met Megan in North Carolina in 2011, where same-sex marriage was not possible. They married in Massachusetts in 2013. Megan helps Sanghvi a lot with her accent and does not like it when people treat her as a person of color.
Sanghvi wrote a lesbian-centric novel, “Happy Endings” in 2019 for which she was longlisted for the best debut in the Auther Awards. The book was published by Harper Collins India in 2022.
She started her advocacy work in 2002 by participating and supporting the cause of equality of gays and lesbians.
Sanghvi, a Democrat, said that although both Donald J. Trump and President Joe Biden were old, the current President’s team was young, and former President Trump’s team is “old with MAGA followers.” She is confident of her victory this November. “I am sure to win,” she said.
There is a huge Democratic turnout in the polls.”
Sanghvi has been endorsed by both the Schenectady County and Saratoga County Democratic Committees.
Among her plans are promoting LGBTQ rights and building an innovation corridor between Schenectady and Saratoga.
“Also, since the cell phone signals are spotty in my area, I would like to work on cell phone infrastructure,” Sanghvi added.
“I would also like to work on climate change initiatives,” she said.
Among her other plans are to make cricket a national American sport, to promote Hindu-Muslim unity and revive Diwali as a state-level holiday.
Sanghvi is young, politically speaking, but denies that age is an advantage for her. “Look at our presidential candidates, Biden and Trump are both old,” she opined.
While she competes with Tedisco in November, she won the Democratic nomination without any contest. She was the only Democratic candidate.
“Jim Tedisco is ineffective and is not doing much,” she said. “He has sponsored only two of the 856 bills, which is 0.02% return on a senator — therefore he is not delivering much,” she added. Tedisco, 73, has been in politics for 47 years and it is time for change, she feels.
Sanghvi said that as a person of color, she often faces racism. In 2021, during door-to-door campaigning, cops were called because someone reported her as a “suspicious person” in the neighborhood. “It became the local news,” she said, referring to the challenges she faces.
She has plans to go ahead in her political career but at present is just contesting for the Senate seat and is ready to work hard.
“(Vice President) Kamala Harris is doing a good job. She could do better if she was given a remarkable portfolio. With an immigration portfolio she can’t do much,” Sanghvi said.
Sanghvi managed to raise $250,000 from the Campaign Finance Program. She wants to raise more. “Indian Americans need to participate more in American elections,” she said. “Raising money is difficult and it would help if Indian Americans fundraised and were politically active,” she said.
About Trump, Sanghvi said that he supports India, his policies are always “America First.” She said, “India will hopefully get support if Biden is elected because he is against China and against Russia’s spread of war against Ukraine. Trump wants to be out of Climate Change and NATO,” Sanghvi said.
She remarked, “If Trump is elected, we will see more attacks on people of color because he has the support of white supremacist groups.”
