US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Has a Desi Connection

In fact, she has a ‘Bong Connection’. Know more about Saikat Chakrabarti, Cortez’s Indian-American chief of staff.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat rock star, has a desi connection.

(Photo: Twitter/AOC) 

By now, you must have come across at least one article about US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. If you haven’t, here is what you need to know about her.

AOC, as she is commonly called, made history last year by becoming the youngest woman elected to the US Congress. How young is she? Well, she is only 29.

Alexandria, born to a Puerto Rican mother and a Bronx-born father, had to work as a waitress and bartender after graduating in 2011 to support her family, according to Elle.

In a short span of time, Cortez has charted a journey from anonymity to become the youngest and one of the most prominent young leaders in American politics.

Even though critics keep trying to find ways to bring her down — the latest being leaking a video from her college days, where she was seen dancing on a rooftop — Cortez keeps fighting back with her inimitable sass.

Well, that’s Cortez. But did you know, this ‘viral’ politician has an Indian connection?

Meet Indian-Origin Saikat Chakrabarti,Cortez’s chief of staff

Saikat Chakrabarti, Cortez’s Indian-American chief of staff(Photo: Twitter/Saikat Chakrabarti)

That’s Saikat Chakrabarti, a 32-year-old Indian origin man who is becoming the talk of the town (or at least, Twitter) for being Cortez’s chief of staff.

After spending eight years of his life in Silicon Valley, where he co-founded a startup as well, Texas-born Chakrabarti quit the world of technology and moved into politics, reports Politico.

He joined Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign in 2015. In 2016, he co-founded an organisation called Brand New Congress, which aims to launch hundreds of ‘working class heroes’ into the Congress.

One of those ‘working class heroes’ happened to be Cortez. She was among the 12,000 who had applied, and the only one to win the elections.

“You have to decide to create the society you want to create... and that’s done through politics.”

Saikat Chakravarti, in <a href="https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/politico-power-list-2019/saikat-chakrabarti/">an interview to Politico</a>

Chakrabarti, who studied at Harvard and even worked at the Wall Street, has been named among Politico’s “Power List” of people to watch in 2019.

Now, all of this is great, but it could be slightly awkward for this ‘Bangali babu’ to know that many desi women are already interested in sending him rishta.

Desi Chakrabarti Wins Twitter

When Matt Ortile, managing editor of Catapult magazine, shared pictures of Chakrabarti, desi people could not resist commenting on the ‘good looks’ of the man.

Fan-girling aside, here’s hoping Cortez and Chakrabarti do some great work in American politics.