Parag
Mehta join the Obama-Biden transition team |
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NRI
Parag
Mehta, named the deputy director of inter-governmental affairs
New York, Nov. 21, 2008
Surinder Singh Randhawa
Parag Mehta said that he was 'absolutely thrilled and excited'
to join the Obama-Biden transition team, which could be a springboard
to a position in the Obama administration. He further said:
- He is also "thrilled to be working with Nick (Rathod),
who will be directing inter-governmental affairs, and I will
be working in public liaison with the department right next
to his
- Besides outreaching to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders,
his mandate would also include reaching out "to lesbians,
gays and bi-sexuals and also a couple of issue areas. So, I
will be reaching out to these groups too besides Asian Pacific
Americans
- The office is not just for minority groups. The office also
includes small businesses, doctors, lawyers, rural farmers-so
it's a pretty large portfolio
- He would certainly love to serve in an Obama administration
following his stint in the transition office.He will be happy
to serve in whatever position he can
He resigned from his job as director, external communications
for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), a post to which he
was appointed four months ago. It was the highest-ranking staff
position held by an Indian American in the party apparatus.
He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
Education:
- Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School at
Syracuse University.
- Bachelor in Liberal Arts Honors (Plan II) from the University
of Texas at Austin and
- Valedictorian of Temple High School, class of 1994.
Family:
- Father, Dr Vijay A Mehta, who hails from Jamnagar, India,
is a general surgeon
- Mother, Dr Vinoo V Mehta who hails from Mumbai, is a physician
at Waco VA
- Older sister, Ami Buddin, a nurse in Pensacola, Florida
- A younger brother, Chirag Mehta, a student in Temple, Texas
Involvement in Politics:
He describe to media:
- I heard Governor (Howard) Dean (now chairman of the DNC) opposing
the Iraq war before it even started. So, in the summer of 2003,
I quit my job, packed up my car and drove to Vermont to volunteer
for his presidential campaign. Between licking envelopes and
making phone calls, I drafted a proposal for the campaign to
reach out to the Asian American community -- and it got the
campaign's attention
- One day I got called on to fill in for the Governor's Spanish
coach, to help him record a TV ad, and we hit it off. Eventually,
I was offered a job working for the campaign's national political
director, managing endorsements from labor unions and elected
officials. Best of all, I got sign-off to run my program for
outreach to the Asian, Arab, Muslim and Pacific Islander communities
- A year later, when Dean was elected chairman, he asked me
to join the team he was building at the Democratic National
Committee. He spoke of a 50-state strategy and asked me to take
on the job of training director, traveling to all 50 states
-- and even abroad -- to train Democrats on how to build a stronger
party and win elections."
- investments of time, money, staff and training the DNC made
in all-but-forgotten 'red states' and taken-for-granted 'blue
states' led to the great thumping of 2006 (when the Democrats
won back both the House and the Senate after more than a decade).
It also paved the way for the massive registration and turnout
of voters in this year's presidential primaries.
In my home state of Texas, more people voted for Barack Obama
and Hillary Clinton in this year's presidential primary than for
John Kerry in the 2004 general election. The American people's
desire for change, the investments of Howard Dean and the groundbreaking
campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have transformed
the political landscape for 2008.
His father, Dr Vijay Mehta is very happy his son did not listen
to him. If his son had listened, he would have been
yet another doctor of Indian origin in US. Instead, Parag Mehta,
31, is today part of a team of advisors to the most powerful man
in the world, US president-elect Barack Obama, according to local
news paper.
Parag was always interested in politics and charted his own path
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Parag Mehta joined the Obama and
named the deputy director of
inter-governmental affairs
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