Gabbard’s Hindutva Financing
Gabbard’s Hindutva Ties
Gabbard’s connections to Hindu nationalist groups and figures have translated into crucial financial and political support:
- Out-of-State Donations: While serving as a U.S. representative from Hawaii, a large portion of Gabbard’s campaign contributions come from out-of-state Hindutva donors, often after keynoting Sangh Parivar events.
- Fundraising Events: Gabbard has been hosted at numerous fundraising events organized by Hindutva leaders which often generated tens of thousands of donations. These include events featuring major American Hindutva leaders like Bharat Barai, Ramesh Bhutada, and Mihir Meghani.
Extent of Hindutva Donations
Between 2011-2014, up to 24% per year of Gabbard’s campaign donations came from identifiable Sangh and pro-Modi sources. These donations must be contextualized as often coming from donors who were simultaneously working, from America, to get Modi elected in India. Specifically:
In her first congressional campaign (2011-2012):
- Gabbard received nearly $94,000 (about 10% of total itemized individual donations) from clearly identifiable Sangh and pro-Modi sources.
- By the end of 2012, this amount had grown to about $190,000 out of $923,000 total (over 20%).
In 2013, her first year in office:
- About $112,600 of Gabbard’s itemized individual donations (20.7%) came from Sangh and pro-Modi sources.
- Over $90,000 of that was given in June and July alone.
In 2014, while running for re-election to a 2nd term:
- $123,000 of Gabbard’s itemized individual donations (about 24% of the total) came from Sangh and pro-Modi sources.
The extent of financial support from Hindutva sources — combined with her associations as well as her rhetoric and policies — strongly suggest that, especially as she was campaigning for her reelection to a second term in 2012, she owed much of her political success to backing by the American Sangh Parivar.
Tulsi Gabbard’s Key Hindutva Donors
Gabbard has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Hindutva-linked donors to both her U.S. congressional and presidential campaigns since 2011. At one point, up to 25 percent per year of her total itemized individual campaign donations came from such sources — that point being when many of those donors were simultaneously working to elect Modi in India. Some of the top donors who are most intimately linked to Modi and the Sangh Parivar in India include the following individuals (and their direct family members):
Bharat Barai. Total:
Barai is a longtime executive with the VHPA. He hosted Modi in his home in Chicagoland in the 1990s, organized multiple videoconferences with Modi and American Hindutva supporters in the 2000s, led a 650-member team to India in 2014 to campaign for Modi’s election, and helped organize a “rockstar reception” to host and promote Modi in New York City. He is now a registered Foreign Agent in the U.S.
Ramesh Bhutada. Total:
$37,400. Bhutada is the longtime vice-president of the HSS-USA. He has hosted the chief of the RSS in his home in Houston, organized a 700-person phone-bank to call from America to India to urge people to vote for Modi, and helped organize a “rockstar reception” to host and promote Modi in Houston.
Mihir Meghani. Total:
$47,651. Meghani, co-founder of Hindu American Foundation (HAF), is notorious for penning a defense of the BJP’s embrace of “Hindutva” as “the great Hindu nationalist ideology,” spending time in India in the 1990s with RSS leaders, and serving as a leader of the VHPA. In 2013, he issued a fundraising letter mentioning Gabbard in which he indicated he was only donating to candidates who supported Modi.
Suhag Shukla. Total:
$11,850. Shukla, as Executive Director of HAF, oversees an organization which has been accused of serving as an American political advocacy group for Modi. A D.C. staffer in 2014 reported that HAF was “definitely trying to undermine anyone in Washington who is critical of Modi.” Suhag’s husband, Aseem, has penned articles attacking Human Rights Watch for its “character assassination” of Modi in accusing him, based on evidence, of involvement in the 2002 Gujarat Massacre.
Rajiv Pandit. Total:
$25,000. Pandit is a director of HAF and a former Governing Councillor of VHPA.
Shekar Reddy. Total:
$16,500. Reddy is a director with Ekal Vidyalaya, a project of the VHPA.
Ravi Tilak. Total:
$25,800. Tilak has ben a leader in the OFBJP’s Los Angeles chapter.
Avadhesh Agarwal. Total:
$21,600. Agarwal has been a leader in the OFBJP’s Los Angeles chapter.
Sangh Events and Fundraisers
Gabbard has spoken at a dozen or more events organized by the Sangh Parivar from 2012-2015 (including two in India) — as well as many Sangh fundraisers for her political campaigns. These are jus a few examples:
- In August 2012, a week after winning her primary election, Gabbard spoke at her first Sangh event: a VHPA conference in San Jose, California.
- In September 2012, Gabbard attended her first Sangh fundraiser, hosted in Florida by OFBJP National Councillor Satya Shaw.
- In October 2012, Gabbard attended her second Sangh fundraiser, hosted in Texas by Vijay Pallod, who later traveled to India to campaign for Modi.
- In June 2013, Gabbard keynoted her first HSS event in Chicago.
- In October 2013, Gabbard keynoted two VHPA events in Atlanta. At the second event, one of the hosts demanded she invite Modi — who was still banned from the U.S. — to address a Joint Session of Congress.
- In November 2013, Gabbard keynoted an HSS event in Australia.
Gabbard’s Hindutva Financing
Gabbard’s connections to Hindu nationalist groups and figures have translated into crucial financial and political support:
Out-of-State Donations:
While serving as a U.S. representative from Hawaii, a large portion of Gabbard’s campaign contributions come from out-of-state Hindutva donors, often after keynoting Sangh Parivar events.
Fundraising Events:
Gabbard has been hosted at numerous fundraising events organized by Hindutva leaders which often generated tens of thousands of donations. These include events featuring major American Hindutva leaders like Bharat Barai, Ramesh Bhutada, and Mihir Meghani.
Campaign Donations:
According to analysis of Federal Election Commission records, at least 105 current and former officers and members of American Sangh affiliates (including the HSS, VHPA, and OFBJP), and their families, have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Gabbard’s campaigns since 2011.
Performing single-property analyses
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