‘Howdy Modi!’: Over 60 U.S. Lawmakers to Attend Mega Diaspora Event
September 15, 2019 02:45
(Image source from: Outlook India)
Over 60 prominent United States lawmakers, including Hindu American Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, will attend mega diaspora event ‘Howdy Modi!’ in Houston to welcome India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The event, organized by the Indian American community, will have lawmakers, including Congressmen, Senate representatives, and governors of various states at historic NGR Stadium on September 22.
Besides prominent leaders, 50,000 people have registered for the event, Jiten Agrawal, the Chief Executive Officer of Expedient, an IT services firm, told PTI in an exclusive interview.
(Image source from: India.com)
Agrawal said the event will be grandest and momentous of all events in the United States until now as there is a huge amount of keenness among Indian Americans, mainstream Americans, the lawmakers, and business heads to listen to the vision of PM Modi.
He said that some of the lawmakers who would attend the event include John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, Al Green, Pete Olson, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sylvia Garcia, Greg Abbot, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Ami Bera, Brian Babin, Raja Krishnamurthy, Tulsi Gabbard, Brad Sherman and Governor Eliot Engel of New York.
Agrawal, who is involved in the planning of the mega event, said:
I think, it would be the first of its kind event in the largest stadium in the city of Houston. A lot of logistics, organizational challenges and dedicated community involvement has gone behind to make it a grand successful event.
After taking charge as Prime Minister of India in 2014, the imminent event in Houston will be Modi’s third major address to the Indian American community and first after his re-election in May. The previous two addresses were at the Madison Square Garden in New York in 2014 and the Silicon Valley in 2016. Both the events were attended by more than 20,000 people.
The reason behind the Indian government choosing Houston as the destination for the event is diaspora in the city of Texas is perhaps the most influential and well connected in the U.S. political map, Agrawal said.
He said that Houston was a primary choice since trade between Texas and India has been increasing multifold. Houston, the energy capital of the world, is an excellent partner for India’s growth.
Agrawal said:
India is going to be a USD 5 trillion economy in the next few years and need significant collaboration in healthcare and Texas medical center being one of the best in country ushers in another partnership between India and Texas on medical research and new treatments.
Chiefs of companies like Schlumberger, Lyondell Basil, McDermott, C level executives from Exxon, Shell and other similar firms as well as Walmart will also attend the event.
By Sowmya Sangam
