Bhavini Patel courts out-of-state donors with Hindu nationalist ties and pro-Israel agendas

Editor's note: This post has been updated.

Congressional candidate Bhavini Patel got a signal boost for her fundraising efforts during a video call Monday she hosted alongside California physician Mihir Meghani, a longtime supporter of Hindu American causes.

The two appeared together during a virtual event notable for the number of callers who mentioned residing outside Pittsburgh; attendees' vociferous praise of Israel; their interest in defeating progressive Democrats and "Squad" members, including Patel's opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Summer Lee; and Hindu nationalist rhetoric.

Though Patel told Pittsburgh City Paper in an emailed response to questions that "Lee is raising most of her money from outside of Pennsylvania[,] and I have raised two-thirds of our funds in the state," the call reflects Patel's willingness to seek donors beyond Pa. in a race that has drawn national attention.

City Paper received a screenshot of the Patel campaign event flyer from a tipster (who asked to remain anonymous) and used a shortlink on it to attend the fundraising video call via Zoom under the writer's real name. Hosted by Patel and Meghani, the call lasted less than an hour and featured several messages of support from donors, three of whom indicated primary residence in New York.

Meghani is a co-founder and board member of the Hindu American Foundation, a 501(c)3 advocacy organization. He's a prolific political donor who has contributed thousands of dollars to pro-Israel lobbying groups including To Protect Our Heritage PAC and gave the maximum allowable $3,300 to failed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has since endorsed former president Donald Trump in his bid for a second non-consecutive term. Meghani also has ties to Indian nationalist groups including supporters of controversial Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has actively promoted pro-Israel and Hindu nationalist causes on his personal Twitter profile.

For the unfamiliar, Modi's time at the helm of the world's most populous country has brought economic prosperity, but his administration has set some of the country's religious and ethnic minority communities, in particular the country's Muslims, on edge for its anti-secular, Hindu-centric approach. Indian politicians in the opposition have sounded alarms that Modi is an autocrat in the making, though Modi has cozied up with both Biden and Trump.

Meghani is notable for his bipartisan support of candidates of Indian heritage including U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, with whom Meghani appears to share a love of Detroit and Michigan sports. Meghani also made multiple donations to controversial former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard. One major factor connecting Thanedar, Gabbard, Patel, and others to whom Meghani has donated is their support for Israel and opposition to "Squad" candidates. (Meghani notably donated $2,800 to former Democratic Rep. Brenda Jones, who twice lost to current U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib.)

Patel used her time on the call to put daylight between herself and Lee, accusing her opponent of not "understand[ing] the day-to-day challenges of the diverse population of this region." Patel also noted Lee's boycott of Modi's appearance in the U.S. last summer and accused Lee's policy decisions of helping arm Iran, a topic that likewise came up during a fractious debate with Lee and her primary opponents on Feb. 28.

"[Lee] was also one of very few that voted no on sanctioning countries that provide weapons to Iran," Patel said on the call. "Those weapons end up in the hands of terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah and destabilize entire regions, which has direct implications for India. It has implications for Israel, and it directly impacts our own national security here in the United States."

Callers who spoke were unanimous in their support of Israel and its current war efforts in the Gaza Strip. Patel and others made multiple references to the Tree of Life synagogue massacre and Squirrel Hill's robust Jewish community.

"I think that we are, in the Pittsburgh Jewish community, doing our best to really elevate [Patel] and make [Lee's stance on Israel] a national issue," said one Patel backer.

In response to a question about Pa.'s closed primary system, Patel said, "I also want to mention that we are making really strong efforts — within the Jewish community, within the Hindu community — to encourage folks who are registered as independents and Republicans to re-register as Democrats."

One caller questioned how he could support both candidates like Patel and Pres. Joe Biden "when you see openly [Biden is] not with you." Patel was quick to underscore that she was a Democrat and would be more likely to vote with the President than with Lee.

"My values have been discussed since day one in this campaign: overcoming adversity, hard work, seeking the American dream and investing in family and community," Patel told CP. She described her campaign as "grassroots."

Meghani urged donors to contribute to Patel's campaign as soon as they could. "Timing is important, as money raised this month gets reported in the 1st quarter of 2024 reporting cycle, which, if it is high as we expect, will encourage more money to her campaign to help unseat incumbent Congresswoman Summer Lee," he wrote in the Zoom chat.

The Patel campaign indicated in their statement to CP that "the Indian American community has stepped up because they believe we have too few Indian-American women of color in Congress." Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D.-Wash.) is currently the first and only person to hold that distinction.

Where Patel and Meghani differ on policy is unclear. Meghani and moderate Democrat Rishi Kumar — whom Meghani has supported and who was profiled alongside Patel as a candidate representing Hindu values — both opposed a bill banning caste discrimination that Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom eventually vetoed. Meghani's nonprofit "rejects" claims that caste discrimination is inherent to Hindu culture.

 (Update: Subsequent reporting by investigative outlet The Intercept has confirmed the presence of multiple members of a known Hindu nationalist group on the call.)

"If we don't get Bhavani elected, we're going to have 10 to 20 years, maybe 30 years of someone like Ilhan Omar or Rashida Tlaib," Meghani said, urging potential donors on the call to "max out" their giving. "Here, we have a chance to jointly, with our friends in the Jewish community, finally show up and notch a victory together."