Badrun Nahar Khan, an American of Bangladeshi descent, wants to run for the Democratic Party in the upcoming US general polls from New York’s congressional district-14.
She has been networking for being nominated as the Democratic aspirant at the party’s internal election to be held on June 23 amid the pandemic.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera are her close competitors in the internal race. Although Ocasio-Cortez currently serves the congressional district-14 as the youngest member of the US congress, Badrun is optimistic of getting the party nomination.
Badrun Khan is urging party voters to nominate her amid the pandemic as she is committed to solving the major issues, that includes people’s residence, job security, and basic income.
She would become the first person of Bangladeshi origin to fight in the New York congressional election scheduled to be held on November 3, if she gets nominated by the party voters.
“If elected to Congress, the first thing I would do is, to do all in my power, to see to a just and fair recovery for my district, and the nation. The growing income gap in this country contributes to the racial and social tensions we are witnessing now. It also allows unsavoury politicians to exploit the disaffected for political gain. We live in dangerous times and are witnessing a resurgence of authoritarian populists around the world,” said Badrun.
“We need to bring jobs to our district. Right now that is hard, as NYC is still under phase 1 of reopening. Economic recovery will take a while, and the future is uncertain. I would like to pass a permanent basic income of $1000/month for all adult citizens and taxpayers to be paid for through a VAT tax and cuts in wasteful government spending. This would help raise the floor for many economically disadvantaged people of colour and the white people, who live paycheck to paycheck,” she added.
She further said: “Education is also a top priority of mine. Right now, 50% of our prisoners have a learning disability. America incarcerates too many people, but we also need to address the root of these problems, not just call for de-incarceration. If elected, I would call for a revamp of public education, especially special education, and call for more funding in this area.”
Replying to an email, she said: “I really do feel that I have my district's interests at heart, more so than the incumbent and the other challengers. One of them, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera is a Republican who switched parties and moved to the district shortly before announcing her run against Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez. She has no policies on her website, and has run an extremely negative and vindictive campaign.”
She said: “Also, in my district, many residents say that the current congresswoman has other political ambitions and is not accessible to constituents. But it's not only her absence from District-14 that bothers people, in the two years since she's been in office, nothing has been done to help the residents here or in the Congress. She offers solutions that are not pragmatic and does not solve problems. While I respect her convictions, her divisiveness is tiring.”
She said: “Our district, which is the epicentre of Covid-19 in the world, would not have been as badly hit if more attention had been paid to issues such as employment, healthcare, and housing. We can fight for Medicare-for-all, but if it takes two decades, what do our people do in the meantime?”
“I understand how to navigate the political system to solve problems and find common grounds with the people. I grew up in multicultural New York City amongst all kinds of people, and I feel I really get all the different sides and concerns,” she added.
Badrun Nahar Khan was born in New York. Her father Kalander Mia, immigrated to the United States about six decades ago.
Earlier, in 1947, her uncle Sikandar Mia moved to the US and settled there. They are residents of Jagatpur village in Moulvibazar Sadar upazila. Badrun Khan is the second of two sisters and three brothers. She lives with her husband Shahan Khan in New York.
