Four Indan Americans among key fund raisers for Obama

Washington: Four Indian Americans have emerged among the key fund raisers for Barack Obama, raising almost a million dollars among themselves for the US President’s re-election campaign. According to OpenSecrets.Org, $35 million of the total $86 million raised by the Obama’s campaign so far, has come from 244 individuals. Among them, the four top Indian American ‘bundlers’ – Azita Raji, Shefali Razdan Duggal, Deven Parekh and Kavita Tankha – alone have raised about a million among themselves. In American political lexicon, ‘bundlers’ refers to the the individuals who help raise money through their friends after they exhaust their limit of personal contribution. As per latest available figures, California-based investor Azita Raji has helped contribute at least half a million for Obama’s re-election campaign. [caption id=“attachment_72912” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption="$35 million of the total $86 million raised by the Obama’s campaign so far, has come from 244 individuals. Reuters"]  [/caption] She is a member of the Democratic National Committee and the National Advisory Board.  Raji is followed by New York’s Deven Parekh of the Insight Venture Partners, who helped raised between $200,000 and $500,000. Parekh serves on the Advisory Board of US Export-Import Bank and the Technical Advisory Board of the Federal Communications Commission. He is a Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute. Shefali Razdan Duggal and Kavita Tankha – both from California – have each raised between $ 50,000 and $100,000, latest campaign fund statistics reveal. Shefali Razdan Duggal is a member of President Barack Obama’s Presidential Partners, the National Finance Committee (NFC) for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign and the Northern California Finance Committee for the President’s 2012 re-election campaign. She is also a member of the Democratic National Committee Asian American Leadership Council, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman’s Council and the Majority Council of Emily’s List, an organisation dedicated to electing Democratic women to all levels of government. Born in India, she has lived in Cincinnati, Chicago, New York and Boston.  Tankha is an eminent attorney from Los Altos Hills, California. PTI