Vandana and Vivek Sharma hosted a meet-n-greet for Democratic presidential hopeful, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard at their residence in Acton. Over a hundred people attended the event. The Congresswoman, who was the most searched candidate after the first debate, impressed the audience with her simple yet profound ideas that demonstrated her strength as a service leader and her commitment to a well thought out foreign policy that promises peace rather than war. 

The event opened with a welcome by Vivek Sharma who introduced congresswoman Gabbard to the audience.  Gabbard gave an overview of her campaign after a short prayer. 

A combat veteran who has served two tours of duty, Gabbard  is an outspoken critic of regime change wars.  Why does she focus her campaign on foreign policy? “Getting out unnecessary wars will help redirect resources to address domestic issues whether it is education or healthcare” said Gabbard.   Gabbard believes ill-conceived foreign policy is at the root of many of the problems we suffer from.  Gabbard also talked about her work in the congress where she constantly strives to work with people on both sides of the aisle. She commented on many issues that are of concern to voters including immigration, healthcare, education, women’s rights, guns and others. Her website gives her stance on this and other host of issues. Check out tulsi2020.com.

Gabbard’s campaign has a large grassroots support. While many national polls had her at 2% or more only 2 of the polls were recognized by the DNC. That cut her out of the 3rd debate. Her campaign was cut-off from Google search in a highly questionable manner right after her first debate for several hours right after the first debate, which put her at an unfair disadvantage. However she is very enthused by the response she is receiving on the ground. She has been touted a candidate who is best poised to attract the attention of all people irrespective of their political labels. 

The attendees were very appreciative of the event. “Vandana ji and Vivek ji got only 2 days notice to organize the fundraiser. They deserve a big shout out and so do the Middlesex County Tulsi Volunteers – they turned out in droves” said Dhruba, a staunch supporter of Gabbard’s campaign. 

“I appreciate her stressing that foreign policy has much deeper impact than most of us realize or understand. It really does impact our daily lives” said Amit Kanodia. 

“I loved it when she talked about concept of the “servant leader”. She quoted from the Bhagavad Gita. Not many understand or relate to this concept of serving others” said Sanjay Kaul. 

When asked about the issue of Kashmir she said it is an internal affair of India though she mentioned human rights have to be respected. She also said she understands the government is doing its duty to reduce violence. 

There were several youngsters at the event. “I thought Ms. Gabbard was super nice and I was able to understand many issues happening in the world around us. She explained about Afganisthan war and our involvement, impact of climate change and why she is committed to serving the people. I was so excited to meet her” said Shankara, a middle school student from Acton. 

To learn more about Gabbard and her campaign please visit tulsi2020.com