Sardar of the US senate

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:=""><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></span></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: 0"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="0" width="25.9%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="781632-open/images/781638.jpg" alt="781632-open/images/781638.jpg" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">If you have had enough of Vikram Chatwal, here’s another trans-Pacific Sardar to talk about.Dr Chirinjeev Kathuria has become the candidate of choice for the Republican Party in the ninth Congressional District of Illinois, USA. If elected, not only would he become the first Sikh in the American Senate, but also its first member to be born in India. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">But lest you think he is to burst into ''</span><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">mere desh ki dharti</span><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">'', Kathuria likes to point out, "Don’t let this turban and beard fool you. I am an American first and foremost. I came here when I was eight months old, and I was raised in this tolerant and accepting country." The 38-year-old non-practising physician-turned-millionaire businessman, Kathuria lost the US Senate primary on March 16 to Jack Ryan. However, last week, Ryan withdrew from the race and Kathuria is now one of the candidates being considered to replace him on the November ballot. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Interestingly, Kathuria’s candidacy has led to the American media comparing him with none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, California governor. Both are immigrants who make millionaires. Both are Republicans who make a virtue of their lack of involvement in mainstream politics. "I find it inspiring and a honour to be compared to him," says Kathuria. Kathuria is an Indian at heart. "We are the richest ethnic minority in the USA," he says. "$ 300 billion and we have no political representative at the federal level. Who could be better as a representative and responsive to Indian issues than me? It will be the Indians who will put me in office. I hope my candidacy encourages other Indians to run for public office. I hope to see the first Indian Supreme Court Justice or even one day the first Indian American president." </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">While Kathuria’s ties with India have been off and on, there are plans to visit the subcontinent next month. "When I was little, I came to India almost every summer to visit and stay with my grandparents in Delhi and Chandigarh," he recalls. "I lived in Mumbai and Delhi for four years after business school." </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Next on Kathuria’s agenda is running for Lieutenant Governor in 2006, but for now, on the personal front, he is single and ready to mingle. "I would hope that a woman would first look at my personality, upbringing, my family and my educational background," he explains. "But that I am an India-born senator should be secondary."</span></div> </div>