ABOUT RAJA

I am the son of Immigrants, an identical twin, an attorney, a small business owner and a resident of the growing and changing District 17 of Nassau County.
I was raised in Queens where I lived until my senior year at Queens College where I earned my Bachelor’s degree. My story is a lot like most immigrant families, my father was an esteemed attorney in India but left all that behind for an opportunity to live the American dream, and while in America, he worked hard to provide for his family of 5 as the sole income earner while my mother took care of household. 
Moving into Hicksville as a young adult, I noticed the change in the community and environment around me but I was only 15 minutes away from where I grew up most of my life.  My neighbors in Hicksville all cared for one another, had an interest for whatever was going on in the community, and wanted the best for everyone in the community. I felt it and wanted to be a part of that.
I always wanted to be a lawyer, I wanted to make an impact on the world, provide and serve for the community I was a part of. It was never about me; it was always about what I could do for someone else and provide for the greater good. I had the passion for it and so that is exactly what I did, I became a lawyer.
After graduating from Law School and passing both the New York and New Jersey Bar exams I started my career. My twin brother who also became a lawyer with me and I always had the dream to one day have our own law firm, within the community we live in, so that we could give back and help that community through providing legal representation. We opened up our firm right in the heart of Hicksville, where we lived.
In the 13 plus years I have lived in this district, with great joy and excitement I have seen the growth and change. I have seen the demographics change and seen more South Asian faces like my own. I saw more young adults like me moving to long island to start their families. I saw established families move into this district to provide a better lifestyle for themselves and their children. And that is the district 17 I have come to love and know.
The Only thing that I didn’t see changing was the representation in government for this district. There was and still is no progress for the people who live in this district.  Small/minority and women business including myself were not getting opportunities that they should have from their local government. The people within the community were limited in their access to their elected official. There was a significant lack of transparency and trust if the local government was in fact doing what was best or even the right thing for the district they represented.
When everything within the district is growing, progressing forward, and changing for the better, the local government should as well or at least acknowledge this change and build with it.
That is why I am running for the Legislature seat for district 17. We need leadership on the local level for this district that actually reflects who lives here, that actually understands the people and communities that live here, that sees and can appreciate the changes that have happened, that can openly communicate with the younger generation like myself and even younger, that can energetically be a factor of progress and change.
With your help and support, we can make the impact on the lives of people in district 17 that is needed!