NEW YORK (TIP): The Karnataka Chapter of the Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC) USA has appealed to Non-Resident Kannadigas worldwide to help elect a corrupt-free and performance-oriented government in the ensuing state-level Vidhan Sabha elections in Karnataka Karnataka State and Bangalore in particular were on the forefront of rapid economic and technological growth and a major contributor to help build India‘s GDP. All these were nullified during the last five years that brought a shame to Karnataka and Kannadigas worldwide with daily dose of corruptions and scams,” said Dr. Dayan Anand Naik, president of the Karnataka chapter of INOC. “We want to see Karnataka back on the path of progress as its image has gone down globally due to corruption and failures in all fronts in the last five years. Karnataka was world’s IT capital and knowledge capital.

Congress Party had its share in building this unique brand and model of prosperous Karnataka. There are 60 million Kannadigas both in India and abroad, he said. Since 1980 Karnataka lead the nation in GDP and per capita GDP as compared to other states in India. During the Congress regimes of Chief Ministers Veerappa Moily and S M Krishna, Karnataka became home of largest biotechnology with 50 percent of large firms located in Bangalore, he said addressing the media in New York.

The Congress government planned and executed one of the largest airports in India in Bangalore that became a boon to non-resident Indians. His “Munnade Karnataka” (Aghe Chalo Karnataka) campaign theme is a clarion call to throw out the corrupt leaders like B.S. Yeddyurappa and the BJP government and bring back the Congress whose manifesto is on development and good governance. Yeddyurappa the former Chief Minister faced in Court, fifteen cases of corruption and He was jailed.

He was perhaps the first Chief Minister jailed because of corruption,” he said. Dr. Naik will be leading a delegation of Non-Resident Indians from the US to campaign for the Congress Party in the Karnataka Vidhan Sabha elections. “We will campaign for as many candidates as possible and tell the voters that the whole world especially the United States is awaiting their choice to bring back the state to glory that slipped in the BJP regime,” he said. Dr. Dayan Naik, an acclaimed cardiologist by profession, is the new Karnataka INOC Chapter President and also a leading community activist. He was born and educated in Karnataka and speaks with passion and power.

He is recipient of several prestigious awards and accolades in USA. As President of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) the largest Indian-American professional association in the United States with 60,000 Indian physicians and 20,000 medical students and researchers as members, he initiated several community outreach programs to help the patients and improve the quality of treatment. He was responsible for inviting UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to the AAPI annual Convention in Washington D.C. where she addressed over 5,000 Indian doctor physicians when she visited USA in 2001. Dr. Naik was born in Neethigere village near Thanda in Channagiri taluk of Karnataka and did his MBBS from Karnataka Medical College Hubli.

He moved to the US in 1970 and rose to become the Clinical Associate Professor of Cardiology New York Medical College. He held various prestigious posts such as Fellow of American College of Cardiology; President of American Association of Indian Cardiologists; Board of Trustee of Xavier University Medical School Aruba and Board Trustee of AAPI. He raised funds for support 26 free medical clinics in India to serve the poor and needy and sent four plane loads of medical equipment, food, clothes and medicine for earthquake victims of Bhuj in Gujarat; initiated AIDS awareness program in India and conducted several free medical camps for poor and the needy in New York and New Jersey areas