Washington, March 1

Eight Indian-American leaders, who are in the fray for Tuesday\'s local elections in Lexington city in the US state of Kentucky, have urged the members of the Indian community to vote generously.

\"Eight Indian-Americans running for Town Meeting in Lexington and have urged all Indian-Americans and everyone to go the polls and exercise their votes,\" India New England News quoted Narain Bhatia, a Lexington resident and community activist, as saying on Monday.

\"Indian Americans in Lexington have shattered the prevailing view that they are busy working and taking care of children so they do not have the time to get involved in town affairs. Eight candidates are now running for Town Meeting this year compared six last year against fierce competition,\" Bhatia said.

The eight candidates consist of Sharmila Mudgal -- a Physician, who hopes to bring her experience in healthcare as a clinician and administrator to Town Meeting.

Anoop Garg - a retiree from the corporate world where he managed various consulting and professional services organisations of large technology companies. He completed his graduation from IIT Delhi and has an MBA degree from State University of New York System.

Anil Ahuja has Bachelors in Accounting, an MBA in Information Systems, and an MS in Computer Information Systems. He wants to help alleviate problems faced by schools in Lexington.

Rita Pandey is a PhD in Sanskrit and Philosophy and served as the assistant director of Harvard Summer School where she implemented a number of innovative programmes. An instructor of Hindi, she become an ombudsman in 2015 and wants to address issues such as: taking care of the elderly and improving education.

While Vikas Kinger wants to use his finance and negotiation skills as a management professional to find common ground and to keep Lexington moving in the right direction, Nirmala Garimella said, if elected, she will bring respect and inclusivity and engage in solutions that work for all.

Hema Bhatt and Pamela Joshi are also in the fray for the elections.

Eight Indian-Americans in fray for Tuesday\'s Lexington elections