News India Times

www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know Ro Khanna’s Wealth Tax Support Fuels Primary Challenge In Silicon Valley R epresentative Ro Khanna is facing backlash from billionaires for supporting a California wealth tax. Now a tech entrepreneur wants to turn that anger into a June primary challenge for Khanna’s Silicon Valley seat. The bid by Ethan Agarwal, 40, is a long shot given Khanna’s national profile and campaign war chest of nearly $15.5 million. But Agarwal said he is counting on support from deep-pocketed tech executives such as Gar- ry Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator, an influential startup accelerator, and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya. Tan’s spokesperson Sam Singer confirmed he is donat- ing to the campaign, but didn’t say how much. Palihap- itiya said he hopes Khanna “loses his reelection badly,” but didn’t disclose if he’s contributing to Agarwal. Khanna’s embrace of a proposed one-time 5% tax on California’s billionaires shattered his Silicon Valley support, said Agarwal, who has dropped his previous campaign for governor. The wealth tax was “the straw that broke the camel’s back, but it’s been fomenting for a long time,” said the Democrat, citing the congressman’s role in Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and his calls to set up guardrails around artificial intelligence. The contest for California’s 17th Congressional Dis- trict, one of the country’s richest, will test the ability of Khanna, 49, to bridge the tax-the-rich policies he has pro- moted nationally while reassuring tech executives that he is an advocate for the industry and for sustaining the AI boom. His balancing act came to a head in December when the progressive posted his backing for the tax on billion- aire wealth in California, a proposal that rattled Silicon Valley but has yet to qualify for the November ballot. Google co-founder Sergey Brin and a group of fellow bil- lionaires are bankrolling a series of competing California ballot initiatives that would nullify the proposed levy be- ing pushed by a politically powerful health-care workers union. “I have been completely shocked at how easily Ro be- trayed his constituents,” Palihapitiya said in a statement. “Silicon Valley is the epitome of entrepreneurship, cre- ativity and innovation. Ro is sadly none of these things.” Following the backlash, Khanna, who’s considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, tempered his endorsement by floating alternative proposals and saying the levy’s structure shouldn’t “undermine the innova- tion miracle of Silicon Valley.” He is also pushing the tech industry and labor leaders to meet this month to pursue a compromise agreement over the tax, which has divided Democratic officials in the state. Besides targeting his opponent over the tax, Agarwal plans to appeal to the South Asian community, which Khanna already counts on as a base of support. The tech entrepreneur, who founded a fitness app and a financial management platform catering to young and wealthy customers, also characterizes Khanna’s stock trading as hypocritical since the congressman campaigns on easing inequality. Khanna has proposed a ban on congressmembers trading individual stocks. “Khanna is focused on building his own national pro- file and is completely ignoring the needs of his district,” said Agarwal. -Bloomberg By Eliyahu Kamisher US Affairs News India Times (March 7, 2026 - March 13, 2026) March 13, 2026 5 Indian American Launches Bid In Crowded Democratic Primary For US Congress From NY-7 P ublic Defender Vichal Kumar launched his campaign for New York’s 7th Congressional District March 3, 2026, with a kickoff event in Bushwick. He also released his cam- paign launch video available on social media (Instagram and YikTok) outlining his vision to “Resist. Reclaim. Reimagine” The event at Kings County Brewers Collective brought together supporters, advocates, and neighbors from across Brooklyn and Queens, according to the press release from his campaign (Ku- mar4ny.com ). Kumar highlighted the campaign’s focus on immigrant justice, economic opportunity, and institutional accountability in his speech. The Democratic primary is scheduled for June 23, and a dozen candidates, including Kumar are vying for their party’s endorsement. He is a registered candi- date on the Federal Election Commission website (fec.gov) but its too early for any contributions to the campaign to be listed there. “This campaign is about more than winning a seat — it’s about restoring confidence that government can work for working people,” Kumar told those pres- ent at the launch. “We need bold ideas, and we need leaders who understand how to implement them. I’ve spent more than twenty years inside courtrooms and public institutions, reforming systems that weren’t serving people. That’s the experi- ence I’m bringing to Congress.” Describing himself as the son of working-class immigrants, Kumar says on his campaign website, “I didn’t plan to run for Congress,” adding, “my goals were far less lofty: emulate my parents’ values of caring for your community and to try to make them proud.” Which is what he did through law school and beyond, he notes in the biographical information on the website, where he says he has represented immi- grants, tenants, and fellow working-class NewYorkers throughout his career, “build- ing a reputation for principled advocacy and strategic reform.” His campaign, he says, will center on defending immigrant communities, expanding health care access, protecting workers, strengthening economic mobil- ity, and redefining the role of governmen- tal institutions. “In our communities, ICE is tearing apart families with impunity and demo- cratic norms are being undermined in plain sight,” Kumar said at the event. “This moment calls for more than rhetoric. It calls for someone who understands how to hold agencies accountable, how to use the law to protect people, and how to legislate in a way that reimagines what our country can do for working families.” Kumar served at The Bronx Defend- ers, where he advocated for community members confronting housing instability, job insecurity, loss of public benefits and healthcare barriers. “Every day I worked to undo the harm they were facing, every night I went to law school.” In Harlem, Kumar says, he built a new model with the sole purpose of creating a system of representation and care, one that saw the whole person and worked to deliver impactful outcomes in every facet of their life. “At Partners for Justice, I worked to scale that model nationally, across urban and rural cities, large and small states, and everywhere in between,” he said. “On their worst days, at their most vul- nerable, I showed up and fought to ease their burden. I had a simple plan: do good work, navigate broken systems, and make life a little less difficult for the families who came through our doors,” he says. “And it worked. We kept countless families together and people in homes. We helped them access employment, food assistance, Medicaid, and other essential support,” he adds. Kumar is a past-President of the South Asian Bar Association (SABA), which has a nationwide membership. “In that role, he advanced civil rights advocacy, expanded community-based legal services, and sup- ported leadership development within the legal profession,” the press release says. “Kumar is building a grassroots campaign across Brooklyn and Queens focused on accountability-driven leader- ship and community engagement,” his campaign said. The expectation is that his decades of advocacy for the most vulnerable New Yorkers, and people in other states, will make him stand out in the crowded field of Democratic aspirants. Kumar did law at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, New York (Linkedin.com/in/vichalk/). By a StaffWriter PHOTO:SCREENSHOT FROM CAMPAIGNVIDEO ONTIKTOK PHOTO:KHANNA.HOUSE.GOV Vichal Kumar in campaign launch video released March 3, 2026. Rep. Ro Khanna.