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www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 5 CITY VIEWS January 10, 2025 Three Special Elections Featuring Indian Americans, To Take Place Jan. 7, In Virginia -RICHMOND V oters in Loudoun County and a slice of central Virginia will go to the polls Tuesday to choose two state senators and a member of the House of Delegates on the eve of the General Assembly session that kicks offWednesday. The elections will fill vacancies cre- ated when state Sens. John J. McGuire III (R-Goochland) and Suhas Subramanyam (D-Loudoun) won election to Congress on Nov. 5 and a sitting delegate from Loud- oun resigned to run for Subramanyam’s seat in Richmond. Republicans could wrest control of the state House and Senate from Democrats by flipping the two Loudoun County seats, but political insiders from both parties consider that a long shot given the over- lapping, solid-blue territory they occupy in Northern Virginia. Likewise, political observers give Dem- ocrats little chance of expanding their narrow margin in the Senate by picking up the seat McGuire has vacated, in a red, largely rural swath stretching from Rich- mond’s western suburbs to Lynchburg. But as low-turnout contests conducted outside the traditional political calen- dar, special elections can yield surprises. Republican gains in either chamber could be pivotal for term-limited Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and his agenda in his final year in office. Democrats, who have controlled the Senate since Youngkin took office in Janu- ary 2022, have had little trouble rebuffing the governor’s priorities since they won control of the House in 2023. With a narrow 21-to-19 majority in the Senate before Subramanyam’s exit, Demo- crats will lose effective control if they do not hold that seat, since Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears presides over the chamber and has the power to break most tie votes. Democrats have a 51-to-49 margin in the House until the resignation of Del. Kannan Srinivasan (D-Loudoun) takes effect Tuesday. The party probably would be forced into a power-sharing agreement with Republicans if the seat went red. Early in-person voting, which began Dec. 11 for the Loudoun races and Dec. 27 in the central Virginia contest, concludes Saturday at 5 p.m. Polls will be open Tues- day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. In the Loudoun Senate race, Srinivasan faces Tumay Harding, a former teacher and vocal critic of Loudoun’s school system. Srinivasan won his House seat in November 2023 and is looking to move up to the Senate. A business analyst and the first Indian immigrant elected to the House of Delegates, he touts his legislative work in areas ranging frommental health and fentanyl to consumer protection and courthouse efficiency. Srinivasan got involved in politics after being struck by a truck while in graduate school and denied Medicaid coverage, according to his campaign website. He was later appointed to serve on the state Medicaid board by former Democratic governors Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam. Harding, the daughter of Turkish-Uzbek immigrants, ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Loudoun County Board of Supervi- sors last year. She has worked as a teacher in the PrinceWilliam County and Loud- oun County public school systems and as a cargo company executive, according to her campaign website. She vows to stop “far-left madness” in Richmond, refer- ring specifically to transgender sports and bathroom policies. The Senate rivals have sharply differ- ent stances on abortion, with Srinivasan promising to be “a brick wall against extremist attempts to restrict reproduc- tive freedom,” and Harding declaring that life begins at conception and promising to defend Virginia’s ban on most late-term abortions. Democrat JJ Singh and Republican RamVenkatachalam are competing for the House seat that Srinivasan is giving up. Singh is president of Retreat Hotels and Resorts and a former economic policy adviser to Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware). Venkatachalam ran unsuccessfully in 2023 for the Loudoun County Board of Supervi- sors. Singh, the son of Indian immigrants, grew up in Northern Virginia, gradu- ated from the University of Virginia and, according to his campaign biography, was the first turbaned Sikh to serve in the Peace Corps. He worked at theWhite House Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration and serves on Loudoun’s Economic Develop- ment Advisory Commission. Singh’s stated priorities include amend- ing the state constitution to protect abortion rights, tightening gun-control laws, combating climate change through a “clean economy,” and lowering costs on items including groceries, education and tolls. Venkatachalam emigrated from India after earning undergraduate and master’s degrees in computer science, according to a biography on the local GOP website. An IT consultant for Deloitte, he has served on his local homeowners association and was chairman of the county’s transit advisory panel. He vows to focus on “lower taxes, economic opportunity, public safety, and quality public education for every child” and to avoid “getting wrapped up in divi- sive social issues and national agendas.” In the central Virginia seat that McGuire vacated, the Republican nominee is Lu- ther Cifers, president of YakAttack, which makes products for kayak fishing. He faces Democrat Jack Trammell, who in 2014 un- successfully ran against fellow Randolph- Macon College professor Dave Brat (R) in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Cifers is a political newcomer who had long considered himself a Republican but had never attended a local GOP party meeting before seeking the nomina- tion. He grew up in the district in Amelia County, where he was home-schooled from the fourth grade on, and later moved to Farmville, where YakAttack is headquar- tered. “I’m very conservative, but I’m not very divisive,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post, in which he vowed to focus on affordable housing and K-12 education. Trammell – now a professor at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland and the chairman of its sociology, criminal justice and human services department – lives on a small farm in Louisa County. He is the author of more than 20 books. Priorities listed on his campaign web- site include promoting “Rural Entrepre- neurialism, from wild flower farms to wineries,” expanding career and technical education, adding abortion rights to the state constitution, tightening state laws on guns and campaign contributions, crack- ing down on drugs and violent criminals, and improving roads, broadband and emergency services in rural areas. -TheWashington Post By LauraVozzella Kannan Srinivasan JJ Singh gestures during interview December 31, 2024. Ram Venkatachalam (photo dated Sept. 14, 2023). PHOTO:Kannan Srinivasan PHOTO:T.Vishnudatta Jayaraman,SAH PHOTO:@RamVenkatachalam for Supervisor Sandeep Kumar of South Ozone Park, NY Charged In Alleged Murder And Conspiracy To Commit Murder With 4 Others Initial investigation by the Ocean Coun- ty Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit and New Jersey State Police Major Crime Unit revealed that Kuldeep Kumar had been reported missing by family in Ozone Park, NewYork, on October 26, 2024. After numerous law enforcement agen- cies conducted a “thorough and compre- hensive investigation,” it was determined that Sourav Kumar, 23, Gaurav Singh, 27, Nirmal Singh, 30, and Gurdeep Singh, 22, all of Greenwood, Indiana, acted together and in support of one another in carrying out the murder of Kuldeep Kumar. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reason- able doubt in a court of law, the press release noted. On December 19, 2024, Sourav Kumar and Gaurav Singh were charged with Mur- der and Conspiracy to Commit Murder in connection with the death of Kuldeep Kumar. Additionally, on December 20, 2024, Nirmal Singh and Gurdeep Singh were both charged with the same crimes relative to Kumar’s death. On December 20, 2024, Sourav Kumar, Guarav Singh, Nirmal Singh, and Gurdeep Singh, were taken into custody in Green- wood, Indiana, by Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, New Jersey State Police Major Crime Unit, Federal Bureau of Investiga- tion, and City of Greenwood (Indiana) Police Department, without incident. They were transported to Johnson County Jail in Franklin, Indiana, where they will remain lodged pending their extradition to New Jersey. The investigation is ongoing. According to a news report onWishtv. com of Indiana, the murder of Kuldeep Kumar may be linked to an international gang operating from India. - Continued From Page 4