The mass exodus of senior Indian- American Obama adminis- tration officials continued un- abated with the nation’s first fed- eral Chief Technology Officer,
Aneesh Chopra, stepping down from his
White House position last week.
The father and son combination of Suresh
and Aditya Kumar — the only such duo in
the Obama administration and perhaps a
first in any United States administration in
the Indian-American immigrant experience
—also quit their Department of Commerce
and White House positions, respectively.
Suresh, popularly known as the administration’s export czar, was assistant secretary
of commerce and director general of the US
and Foreign Commercial Service. Aditya
was deputy assistant to the vice president
and senior advisor to the chief of staff in the
office of the vice president.
While each of them were leaving the
administration to explore different options
— from a possible run for elected office to
joining the private sector — all of them told
India Abroad that they were committed to
President Barack Obama and would work
from the outside on his re-election campaign, while striving to carry out his agenda.
Big blow
Continuing the exodus that began last
year, three senior Indian-American
Obama administration officials quit.
AZIZ HANIFFA reports
However, by deciding to fly the coop
before Obama completes his first term, they
joined more than half-a-dozen other senior
Indian-American Obama faithfuls who have
departed. Only a handful like Dr Raj Shah,
the administrator of the US Agency for
International Development and the highest-ranking Indian American in the administration; and Dr Islam A ‘Isi’ Siddiqui, chief
agricultural negotiator, office of the US
Trade Representative; remain in their posts.
Last fall, Ro Khanna, deputy assistant secretary, domestic operations, Department of
Commerce’s International Trade Administration; and Sonal Shah, director, White
House Office of Social Innovation, quit the
administration.
Khanna was hoping to make a run for
Congress from his native Fremont,
California, 13th Congressional district if the
Democratic incumbent, Congressman
Fortney ‘Pete’ Stark, who is over 80 years old
and has served over half his lifetime in the
US House of Representatives decided to
retire. Shah said she was leaving essentially
because of ‘burn-out’ and going to spend a
year traveling, including in India.
Aneesh Chopra for Virginia
lieutenant governor?
retiring Democratic Senator James Webb,
and for President Obama’s re-election bid,
particularly since the latter is likely to
encounter a tough fight to recapture the
support he enjoyed in 2008 in this swing
state. Following Kaine’s tenure, Virginia
elected a Republican Governor, Bob
AZIZ HANIFFA
It is widely believed that Aneesh Chopra, who resigned last week as thefirst White Housechieftechnolo- gy officer, is mulling a run for Virginia lieutenant governor. He is
likely to make an announcement once he
forms an exploratory committee and is confident that he can raise the millions
required to make such a bid viable.
Sources told India Abroadthat, considering his almost three-year stint with the
Obama administration, his earlier incarnation as CTO in then Virginia governor Tim
Kaine’s administration and the network of
high-tech heavyweights he has developed
— Chopra was also the co-founder of the
Indian American CEO Council in
Washington, DC, which has now tied up
with The Indus Entrepreneurs — raising
the money wouldn’t be a problem.
When President Obama appointed him
in May 2009, which necessitated that
Chopra move to DC, he did not give up his
home in Richmond, and it was well known
that his love for politics and the fact that he
had told several of his well-wishers that he
would one day like to run for statewide
office, would gnaw at him, sooner than
later.
According to the sources, besides the
mainstream technology heavyweights comprising chief executive officers of leading
companies in the Northern Virginia Dulles
Corridor — considered Virginia’s Silicon
Aneesh Chopra
As the federal government’s
first chief technology officer,
Aneesh Chopra did ground-
breaking work to bring our
government into the 21st
century. Aneesh found
countless ways to engage the
American people using
technology, from electronic
health records for veterans, to
expanding access to
broadband for rural
communities, to modernizing
government records. His legacy
of leadership and innovation
will benefit Americans for years
to come.
— President Barack Obama
Valley — who would gladly open their wal-
lets for him, Indian-American heavy-
weights in the technology sector and major
political fundraisers like Sudhakar Shenoy,
chairman and CEO, IMC, Inc; Ranvir
Trehan, erstwhile president of the
Northern Virginia Technology Council and
philanthropist, could also be counted on to
back Chopra’s political ambitions.
