'Malicious campaign' will only strengthen my resolve, says Chatwal

I / Washington February 8, 2010, 12:08 IST

Hitting out at the "malicious campaign" against him after the government awarded him the Padma Bhushan, NRI hotelier S S Chatwal said today that this had only strengthened his resolve to work for strengthening Indo-US ties.

Denying that he carried any "background and baggage," Chatwal said none of his fund raising offers or his personal financial contributions had ever been turned down.

Chatwal, 63, said if the allegations were true, his fund raisers and contributions to election campaigns of top Democratic party leaders had not been accepted over the past several decades. "Certainly, that has not been the case," Chatwal said.

Chairman of Indian American Democratic Committee, Chatwal said he is "pained" and "personally hurt" at the "malicious campaign".

Responding to reports that his offer to raise $10 million for the Obama Campaign was turned down, he said, "The matter of the fact is that he (Obama) was all booked up with events across the country and a time and date could not be nailed down".

"Such malicious campaign is personally hurting. But, it only strengthens my resolve to continue to work and redouble my efforts for deepening of ties between the two greatest democracies of the world," he said.

Chatwal said he has worked tirelessly without any personal expectations to build and strengthen the relationship between India and the US for the past several decades.

In the run up to the 2008 presidential polls, he raised millions of dollars for Hillary Clinton during primaries, and also made political contributions to Joe Biden's campaign, as also for top Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who is now Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus.

"To all these leading Democrats and presidential candidates, I gave my personal checks and none of them were returned by any of them," Chatwal said.

Over the years, he has also made contributions to the campaigns of Democratic leaders like Charles Schumer of New York, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and US Congressmen Gary Ackerman, Joe Crowley, Nita Lowey, Anthony Weiner.

"All these donations are governed by strict rules and regulations by the Federal Election Commission and ethics rules of the US Congress itself, would have been returned if there had been any blemish against me and my contributions considered tainted," Chatwal said.

If there had been any "blemish" against his record, he said, "how come I was invited for all the events President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary (of State) Hillary Clinton hosted for the Prime Minister (Dr Singh during his State visit in November)."

Chatwal said he has met Obama several times after he got elected.

"Every time we meet, we discuss Indo-US relationship. He wants to further deepen and strengthen the relationship between the two countries," he said.