NRI PARLIAMENTARIAN

After Indian immigrants success in American politics, it is now the turn of NRIs to make their presence felt in Indian politics. Madhu Goud Yaskhi, a New York-based lawyer, contested parliamentary election this year from Nizamabad constituency, Andhra Pradesh, as a Congress Party nominee. He won with an impressive margin, and became the only NRI parliamentarian in the 14th Lok Sabha.

Yaskhi immigrated to United States in the late 1980s to pursue postdoctoral course in law, but the prohibitive cost of education and family circumstances forced him to take up a part-time job at the Indian Consulate in New York. He also had a brief stint as a journalist with News India-times, a widely circulated tabloid among immigrant Indians. In 1995, Yaskhi founded a partnership firm, the International Legal and Trade Consultants in New York, which handles business immigration issues.