- विज्ञापन -
Ravi Bhalla, the first Sikh Mayor of Hoboken City in New Jersey, has announced his candidacy from the US state’s 8th Congressional district. Bhalla will challenge Representative Rob Menendez Jr, son of Senator Bob Menendez who is facing federal corruption charges, in the Democratic primary next year. If elected, he will be the first turbaned Sikh elected to US Congress.
“I’m running for Congress in New Jersey’s 8th congressional district, because I believe that America is better than the demagogues who seek to divide us, or the politicians who strive only to serve themselves,” Bhalla said announcing his Congressional bid on Tuesday.
Bhalla first set his roots in Hoboken at the age of 26, “a bachelor fresh out of law school starting his first job at a small law firm in Newark, New Jersey”, according to his website profile. He specialised as a civil rights lawyer, earning national recognition from The New York Times for his legal advocacy after suffering a violation of his own constitutional and civil rights during a jail visit to a client.
The incident motivated Bhalla to lead a successful campaign to reform the federal government’s visitation policies at correctional facilities nationwide. He served for eight years on the Hoboken City Council before being elected as the city’s 39th Mayor in 2017 out of a field of six candidates.
