Congressional candidate Bhavini Patel got a signal boost for her fundraising efforts during a video call Monday she hosted alongside California physician Mihir Meghani, a longtime supporter of Hindu American causes.
The two appeared together during a virtual event notable for the number of callers who mentioned residing outside Pittsburgh; attendees’ vociferous praise of Israel; their interest in defeating progressive Democrats and “Squad” members, including Patel’s opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Summer Lee; and Hindu nationalist rhetoric.
Though Patel told Pittsburgh City Paper in an emailed response to questions that “Lee is raising most of her money from outside of Pennsylvania[,] and I have raised two-thirds of our funds in the state,” the call reflects Patel’s willingness to seek donors beyond Pa. in a race that has drawn national attention.
City Paper received a screenshot of the Patel campaign event flyer from a tipster (who asked to remain anonymous) and used a shortlink on it to attend the fundraising video call via Zoom under the writer’s real name. Hosted by Patel and Meghani, the call lasted less than an hour and featured several messages of support from donors, three of whom indicated primary residence in New York.
Meghani is a co-founder and board member of the Hindu American Foundation, a 501(c)3 advocacy organization. He’s a prolific political donor who has contributed thousands of dollars to pro-Israel lobbying groups including To Protect Our Heritage PAC and gave the maximum allowable $3,300 to failed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has since endorsed former president Donald Trump in his bid for a second non-consecutive term. Meghani also has ties to Indian nationalist groups including supporters of controversial Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has actively promoted pro-Israel and Hindu nationalist causes on his personal Twitter profile.
For the unfamiliar, Modi’s time at the helm of the world’s most populous country has brought economic prosperity, but his administration has set some of the country’s religious and ethnic minority communities, in particular the country’s Muslims, on edge for its anti-secular, Hindu-centric approach. Indian politicians in the opposition have sounded alarms that Modi is an autocrat in the making, though Modi has cozied up with both Biden and Trump.
This story was originally published in pghcitypaper.com. Read the full story here .