On December 30, Santa Clara County voters will decide a runoff election for County Assessor — the office responsible for valuing $725 billion in real estate across Silicon Valley. One of the two candidates is Rishi Kumar, a former Saratoga city councilmember who has lost three consecutive congressional primaries. His opponent, Neysa Fligor, has raised $342,276. Kumar has raised $30,019.
But the story of Rishi Kumar is not about fundraising deficits or failed congressional bids. It is about a man who organized a “rock-star reception” for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, campaigned for Modi’s ruling party from American soil, and described Modi as someone he “seeks to emulate.”
Kumar is not merely a politician who happens to have received donations from Hindu nationalist organizations. He is a participant in their political operations — and now he wants control of your property tax bill.
Modi: “The Man, the Myth, the Legend”
In September 2015, Prime Minister Modi visited Silicon Valley. At the SAP Center in San Jose, he addressed a crowd of nearly 20,000. Rishi Kumar was on the organizing team.
Writing about the event afterward, Kumar gushed that Silicon Valley was “basking in Modi fever.” He described the anticipation: “The man, the myth, the legend was being eagerly awaited.”
Kumar praised his fellow organizers. “Many of the leadership were RSS, BJP and VHP folks who had an incredible energy,” he wrote.
His post concluded with explicit endorsement: “I have complete faith upon his ability to deliver…. India is lucky to have a phenomenal leader at the helm. Salute to Prime Minister Modi.”
When a commenter criticized Modi, Kumar replied in the comments: “I think Gujarat is a text book example of what a leader can do.” Gujarat is the state where, under Modi’s watch as Chief Minister, over 2,000 Muslims were massacred in 2002.
These are not obscure references. The RSS — Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — is a Hindu nationalist paramilitary organization founded in 1925 and inspired by European fascism. The BJP is India’s ruling party, which functions as the RSS’s political wing. The VHP — Vishwa Hindu Parishad — is the RSS’s religious wing. Together, they form the infrastructure of Hindutva — an ideology holding that India belongs to Hindus and that religious minorities exist as tolerated guests rather than equal citizens. The VHP has mobilized mobs that carried out organized massacres of Muslims and Christians.
This story was originally published in countercurrents.org. Read the full story here.
