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Obama team member has Sangh
links
NEW DELHI:
US
President-elect Barack Obama may have cultivated a left-of-center
image for himself, but Sonal Shah, the Indian- American advisor in
his transition team, has well established rightwing
leanings. The 40-year-old economist has been associated with the
overseas activities of the Sangh Parivar. She was a national
coordinator of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America campaign to
raise funds for Gujarat earthquake victims in 2001.
Her father
Ramesh Shah, a vicepresident of the Overseas Friends of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP), had campaigned for LK Advani in
Gandhinagar during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. He had also briefly
traveled with Advani during his Bharat Udaya Yatra, countrywide
election tour.
Sonal’s brother
Amit and sister Rupal are now based in Ahmedabad, running a
voluntary organisation, indicorps. Its website says its aim is to
“engage the most talented young Indians from around the world on the
frontlines of India’s most pressing challenges”. “I returned to
India
eight years ago,” Amit said before suddenly deciding not to talk any
further. An SMS from Rupal said “no comments from here”, and added
that Sonal be contacted through email for any queries.
A senior
functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), involved in
the global activities of the Parivar, said only Ramesh is associated
with its activities. “He works with the OFBJP and supports, among
other things, the Ekal Vidyalayas,” the functionary said. Ekal
Vidyalayas are single-teacher primary schools run by the RSS with
the aim of inculcating Hindu values in children, mostly in tribal
regions.
The Shah family
hails from Sabarkantha in
Gujarat
but Sonal was born in Mumbai. Ramesh Shah moved to the
US in 1970. Two
years later, Sonal, Rupal and their mother joined him in New York.
The family later
moved to
Houston.
Sonal has worked as vicepresident with Goldman Sachs and also in the US
Department of Treasury. Currently, she is with the global
development team of Google.org. Volunteers at the indicorps office
in Ahmedabad were under instructions not to speak anything.
Courtesy
HT
12 November
2008
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