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It was no coincidence that three Indian American candidates won the elections they contested in New Jersey recently. Especially considering that their victory comes in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the US, when anti-Asian sentiments are running high in some towns.

But there was something working for them behind the scenes-the Indian American Leadership Incubator (IALI) formed in March and led by 34-year-old Varun Nikore. Nikore and his team of 10 dedicated volunteers took to the road, knocking at doors and handing out literature where the Indian Americans were contesting. The team also put the word out through e-mail and mailing lists supporting the candidates. It was a "get-out-the-vote" campaign.

	HELPING OUT: Varun Nikore

Says Nikore, "We estimate that our alerts went out to 15,000 people and perhaps about 50,000 people got to know about the elections."

IALI's long-term goal is to support nationwide the efforts of Indian Americans striving for elected office. Their mission is to identify, train and fund such candidates.

The New Jersey run was their first test. Of the eight candidates contesting in New Jersey and three in New York, IALI conducted careful research to zero in on four they thought were worth targeting. Of these, three of IALI's candidates won-Upendra Chivukula as a Democrat for State Assembly, Middlesex County; George James for City Council in Westwood Township as a Republican; and Parag Patel for City Council, Edison.

The fourth-Monisha Merchant, a 24-year-old MIT graduate and consultant with Lucent Technologies in Holmdel, New Jersey-lost by just 600 votes. It was the first time she was running for an election.

Help was a little late coming, admitted George James, 50, soon after his election. But he commended Nikore for his vision in forming IALI and for his leadership in the Indian American community.

Parag P. Patel, 32, a tax attorney who stood for elected office for the first time, now represents the fourth largest town in New Jersey with a large Indian-American population. "Volunteers from IALI walked with me door to door to create awareness and get the vote out," he says.

Upendra Chivukula, 51, who has been in New Jersey politics since 1992, stepped down as Mayor of Franklin Township this year to run for a town council seat. Chivukula remarks: "The incubator played a significant role in my victory by building awareness for my campaign."

Ahmedabad-born Nikore, who is currently marketing director with the Virginia-based Aerospace Industries Association, doesn't see too many differences between his job and his community interest. "Commonalities exist," he says. "I handle a lot of grassroot work and marketing and business development. And political manoeuvring requires similar skill sets."

With professional qualifications from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida and in international communications from George Mason University, Virginia, Nikore has been in and out of politics for the past 10 years, as well as having worked for two aviation trade associations earlier.

Now he focuses on getting representation for the largely lackadaisical Indian-American community. By the year 2010, he hopes to help elect at least two senators and eight Congressmen or women to the US Congress-a challenge he and his political action committee are working on.

Nikore notes that it is a "watershed" year for Indians in politics. Rarely in history have so many Indians run for elections. It goes to show that if the word is out in time and specific races are targeted, success is possible.

Nikore said, "Last year I worked closely with the people who were handling Indian outreach (i.e. candidates reaching out to Indians) in Al Gore's presidential campaign, with headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee when I realised that Indian-Americans are to some extent taken for granted by politicians."

According to Nikore, Indians who donate money rarely ask for anything in return to benefit their community. They are often happy just to get a picture taken with the political bigwig.

"We need to have a list of requests that are practical and tangible. For instance when meeting the candidate, one could ask for, say, research money for a National Institute of Health project for Indians proven to be genetically inclined toward heart problems," he suggests. IALI would also provide guidance to such forums as the India caucus under Ed Royce (California) and Jim McDermott (Seattle).

Nikore's gameplan: "If Indian Americans want to succeed in politics, they must get involved early on in the party process, like working in the local Democratic or local Republican Parties. Because only if we get involved at that level, and only by helping candidates can we get party politicians to include Indian Americans in the system."