US Presidential Elections 2020: It is Rohit Khanna Vs Ritesh Tandon in California

Washington, Nov 04: California 17th Congressional District is witnessing the rivalry of two Indian-Americans during one of the most celebrated presidential elections in the world.

While Rohit Khanna is known for his anti-hindutva remarks, Ritesh Tandon plays hindutva in the soil of the United States of America. Till the time, incumbent Khanna is leading by 74 per cent votes over the opponent Tandon.

Rohit Khanna

Rohit Khanna, known as Ro Khanna, is an American politician, lawyer, and academic serving as the U.S. Representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017.

A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated eight-term incumbent Democratic Representative Mike Honda in the general election on November 8, 2016, after first running for the same seat in 2014.

Khanna also served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the United States Department of Commerce under President Barack Obama from August 8, 2009, to August 2011.

Khanna was born in 1976 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents are Indian immigrants to the United States. His father is a chemical engineer who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the University of Michigan, and his mother is a former substitute school teacher. Khanna's maternal grandfather, Amarnath Vidyalankar, was part of India's independence movement, working with Lala Lajpat Rai, and spent years in jail in the pursuit of human rights and freedom.

In 2019, Khanna said, "it is the duty of every American politician of Hindu faith to stand for pluralism, reject Hindutva, and speak for equal rights for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhist and Christians", a statement that was criticized in a letter published by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and signed by what was described as "a record number of 230 Indian-American organisations in the US".

Ritesh Tandon

Former tech entrepreneur Ritesh Tandon, 46, was born in India, and lived most of his youth period in India and at the age of 28 moved to the United States for his further studies where he found himself on the line of being a politician.

His grandfather fought for independence in India against the British so this inspired him to be on the politician and take his grandfather's step.

He attended Santa Clara University in pursuit of a Master's Degree in Computer Engineering. Later Ritesh Tandon completed his second Master's in Business Administration from the same University. While attending Santa Clara University, Ritesh met fellow Computer Engineer Zurica Dhar. They were married in 2001 and would make the Bay Area home.

He is among the most enthusiastic candidate who is currently running for California's 17th Congressional district representatives.

Tandon is president of the Uttar Pradesh Mandal of America (UPMA) and a stalwart of the Hindu temple in Fremont, California, who has declared his intent to challenge Democratic incumbent Ro Khanna in California's District 17 on the Republican ticket in 2020, has said he was motivated to run by Khanna's alleged anti-Hindutva comments.