Jayesh Shah, 73, a retired a medical rehab/pain specialist, has not given up hope for public office. He unsuccessfully ran for Los Angeles County supervisor in 2004 and 2008. He is back in the fray to fight for the Democratic primary June 10 from the 46th Congressional District in California. Nobody else has filed for the Democratic ticket yet.
Shah, whose agenda is to fight corruption and mismanagement in government, says he preferred younger people to run for political office. "But the younger generation in our community is not much interested in politics or public office. So, I decided to do whatever I can," he says.
The seat is held by Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, serving his 11th term. The district comprises the outskirts of Los Angles, including Sunset Beach, Santa Ana, and Palos Verdes, among others. It has about 180,000 voters, with about 3,000 of them of Indian origin.
Shah retired from the Los Angeles County Health Service after 33 years in March 2009. He also served as a United States Air Force major and flight surgeon. He joined the air force in 1978, when the military faced a shortage of doctors.
Money alone, Shah says, will not protect the community.
"For our survival we need a share in power. We cannot be beggars for long. We should remember what happened to the Indian community in countries like Burma, Uganda and Fiji. Indians were thrown out from these countries because we lacked political power. We need political involvement," he says.
"Indians are self-centered and they keep on fighting on language or religion. We do not vote too. It erodes our strength. Just raising funds for a few politicians will not do much good to the community."
His electoral platform also includes judicial equality, immigration and rights of legal residents as well as equality for all irrespective of sexual preference. Shah critiques many things in the current system.
"They [Asians] will continue to struggle as equality or fairness is not easy to get in the US," he says, declaring that democracy in America is for the rich and corrupt as it is in India.
He asks the community to support the soldiers in all possible ways. "America helps people in other countries forgetting that 1 million homeless people live on the streets here. California tops in the number of homeless veterans," he says.
He says substandard medical care results in the death of at least a million people in the country, but nobody is doing anything to stop it. That is why, he says, Washington needs change with a new breed of Congressmen with new ideas.
Shah is a former chairman of the Federation of Indian Associations Southern California and one of the founders of all major Indian organizations in California.
He got 9.47 percent of the votes when he ran as Los Angeles county supervisor from District 4 in 2004. In the last elections, Shah spent much of the money from his pocket. This time, he expects to spend $50,000 and plans to raise it through fundraisers.
