And then there are the elections in Burma supposedly in 2010 and sans Aung San Suu Kyi. Good piece Amardeep.

There is also one coming up in Meghalaya on March 3, the day before the Texas and Ohio primaries. Talk about names to choose from!

The Illinois senator has nothing on Frankenstein Momin. Or Billy Kid Sangma. Or Adolf Lu Hitler Marak. The three men are among dozens of others with equally colorful names who are competing for legislative seats in Meghalaya, a remote northeast Indian state, on March 3. There are about 60 seats up for grabs, 331 candidates vying, and no shortage of unusual names. There's Britainwar Dan, Admiral Sangma and Bombersingh Hynniewta -- all ready for battle. There's Laborious Manik Syiem and Hilarius Pohchen. Boldness Nongrum and Clever Marak. Even a Tony Curtis Lyngdoh.

Ruchira, thanks for the link to that CNN piece -- those are some great names! My favorite is "Bombersingh Hynniewta."

South Asians who are registered to vote could empower the entire community by flocking to polling stations in all upcoming elections and showing the importance of the South Asian ballot in the contest.

small communities are important if they are in a swing state, or if they give a lot of money. according to hindus are the only american group approaching jews in median income....

From the same Pew report

# Hindus and Mormons are the most likely to be married (78% and 71%, respectively) and to be married to someone of the same religion (90% and 83%, respectively).

# Mormons and Muslims are the groups with the largest families; more than one-in-five Mormon adults and 15% of Muslim adults in the U.S. have three or more children living at home.

# Nearly half of Hindus in the U.S., one-third of Jews and a quarter of Buddhists have obtained post-graduate education, compared with only about one-in-ten of the adult population overall. Hindus and Jews are also much more likely than other groups to report high income levels.

# Buddhism in the U.S. is primarily made up of native-born adherents, whites and converts. Only one-in-three American Buddhists describe their race as Asian, while nearly three-in-four Buddhists say they are converts to Buddhism.

4 · razib said

South Asians who are registered to vote could empower the entire community by flocking to polling stations in all upcoming elections and showing the importance of the South Asian ballot in the contest.

"South Asians", whatever that species stands for, may be don't make up more than 0.6-0.8 of the population and can't possibly swing more than a couple of districts. Which "entire community" is their registration and voting going to empower? And what is this "South Asian" ballot. The folks at SAMAR who turn blue in the face about "hegemonistically" dissolving identities in monolithic categories are themselves constructing a "South Asian" identity out of whole cloth. SAMAR folks seem to be pretty clueless about the many groups formed by different communities of Indian subcontinental origin that include professional and cultural groups that have very active political action programs. SAMAR's membership which consists of a considerable number of permanent graduate students of studying "(fill blank here) studies" may be the only ones of the "South Aaian" persuasion to not have an active political action program.

That clip I quoted isn't Razib's, it is Razib quoting the SAMAR folks. Quote machine! Darn!

If you read the Desis Vote piece in its entirety on SAMAR it makes it clear that it is focused on the local politics of New York City and the potential for the South Asian population to affect things there. The dense populations in Brooklyn and Queens are not really mobilized and for the most part indifferent to their ability to vote.

Jyotsana, you said:
"the many groups formed by different communities of Indian subcontinental origin that include professional and cultural groups that have very active political action programs"

Which groups are you referring to?