Raja Krishnamoorthi Challenger Denounces Congressman’s “Affiliation” With RSS

Congressional candidate Preston Nelson calls out Krishnamoorthi’s funding by US affiliates of Indian paramilitary

Pieter Friedrich
3 min readNov 3, 2020

“Raja is accepting support and money from Indian political extremists that are massacring minorities in his country of origin,” declares challenger Preston Nelson about Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi.

Krishnamoorthi’s campaigns for Congress have been funded with hundreds of thousands of dollars from top leaders in US affiliates of India’s Rashtriya Swayamesvak Sangh (RSS) paramilitary and Nelson, who is running largely on an anti-war and pro-liberty platform, is not afraid to call it out. “The Indian RSS has numerous branch-organizations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which is a religious militant organization, according to our CIA,” says Nelson. “While Raja will not condemn, or even mention the rampant religious persecution in India, he does happily speak at RSS events, even when they are boycotted by other congresspeople.”

“The problem with RSS is that its religious extremism results in political violence and oppression of minorities,” Nelson told me in an interview. “Regarding organizations like the RSS, the role of a congressional representative should be to consider CIA labeling the organization a ‘religious militant organization.’ Representatives should also ensure that such organizations are not interfering with American elections. When such organizations use their power in government to violate the rights of people, we should officially condemn the violence, and reconsider doing business with that government.”

Notably, the RSS produced current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and approximately 75 percent of his cabinet ministers hail from an RSS background.

In a campaign ad announcing his vote for the Libertarian Party presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen, Nelson states, “She truly opposes all foreign interference in our elections, whether Donald Trump is getting in bed with Saudi Arabians, Joe Biden selling out to Chinese, or Raja taking thousands from Indian nationalists.”

US elections, Nelson claimed, are “compromised” by such issues. “Elected officials who engage with the RSS are an affront to our sovereign democracy,” he told me. “Their acceptance of foreign interference in our elections is unacceptable, and they should be voted out of office.”

In early October, after Amnesty International’s branch in India was forced to shutter its doors due to pressure from the Modi regime, Nelson claimed that it was due to “the organization’s exposure of the sad situation in Kashmir province where the Indian government is massacring civilians.” He continued, “Silence is violence, and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi is silent on this and numerous other atrocities… as he receives financial support from Hindu nationalist organizations such as the RSS and BJP which is the political organization of India’s prime minister Modi.”

To be precise, Krishnamoorthi is not actually accused of receiving donations from the RSS and BJP, as Nelson put it, but rather from top leaders in US affiliates of the RSS who support election of the BJP in India.

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Pieter Friedrich

Friedrich is a freelance journalist and analyst of South Asian affairs. Learn more about him at www.PieterFriedrich.com.