Washington: US Congress may witness a surge in the number of Indian-American lawmakers , including its first Senator, after the US general elections in November, the results of the primary election season have indicated.
Three Indian-Americans have advanced to the primary from California alone.
Ami Bera, who is seeking his third consecutive term, and Ro Khanna, who is one again pitted against incumbent Mike Honda are running for a seat in the House of Representatives.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris is all set to enter the Senate, and could become the first Indian-origin to be elected to the US Senate, political observers said.
All the three - Bera, Khanna and Harris - are from the Democratic Party.
There are two other Indian-Americans - Raja Krishnamurthy from Illinois and Pramila Jayapala from Seattle - who are running for a seat in the House of Representatives.
"Hopefully there would be other joining me in the Congress next year," Bera told PTI.
He is currently the only serving Indian-origin Congressmen in the US Congress.
"I can see, two, three and even four as an outside chance. We should be able to elect the first Indian-American Senator. We may get those four, five members," he said.
"Raja Krishnamurthy has a good chance. Obviously, Ro Khanna is going to have a tough race. Pramila Jayapal in Seattle has a chance to get elected and Kamala Harris in the Senate. So it could be a good year for us," Bera said.
(PTI inputs)
