'Donald Trump is not a racist'

Avinash Iragavarapursquos political journey began he says right from birth ldquoMy grandfather was in politics though not at a very high level This is probably where my interest in politics beganrdquo says the 30yearold from Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh who is now the executive director for the Arizona Republican Party mdash a job that involves creating political strategy for the party and its candidates after carefully analysing dataIragavarapu with Arizona Governor Doug Doucey left and South Carolina Governor Nikki HaleyItrsquos a career that Iragavarapu has carefully etched out for himself through his graduation years while studying engineering at Vizag ldquoI volunteered for the local MLAMLClevel campaigns by going from doortodoor I must have been the only engineering student to do so Most other volunteers were from BA etcrdquo he adds Iragavarapu then went on to study at IIMLucknow and despite getting a plush job at HCL politics remained a ldquohobby and passionrdquo Hersquod often head to Delhi to meet with friends whorsquod brief him on how politics worked there In 2011 the YSR faction in Andhra Pradesh broke away from the main Congress and in 2014 general elections year Iragavarapu spent three weeks to understand what happens on the ground after which one can think of what strategy to create which audience to target For instance though Telanga had not yet been created there YSRC realised that the party was not doing well in that region and little would change its fortunes Thus less time was spent on trying to convert those people in YSRC votersAfter the elections which werenrsquot successful he adds Iragavarapu went to Arizona US where his wife works with Intel A political junkie as he calls himself he noticed the big hoardings for a political race around ldquoIt was for the biggest race mdash the Governorrsquos racerdquo he says What excited him was the rich amount of voter information that is available in the US that parties and candidates can use Voters can register themselves as Republican Democrat or Independent voters Iragavarapu approached Doug Ducey who was contesting the Republican primary where those within the party choose their official candidate and said he wanted to work with him and could help analyse data Ducey had served as the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery before the electoral race and knew of IIM and took Iragavarapu on board Once he won the primaries he took Iragavarapu on board and hired him for the party He won the governorrsquos race in January 2015 Iragavarapu too rose in the ranks and became executive director within the Arozona Republican partyAsk him if therersquos a difference in strategizing for an Indian and an American election he says because of the kind of information available on American voters even the kind of magazines you subscribe to is available to the analyst strategizing is more data driven and consumer based ldquoAdditionally while both voters are intelligent the Indian voter is more driven by emotionsrdquo he adds Money of course is an issue too While the gubernatorial election budget would be the same as the budget for a race in Andhra Pradesh just the difference in population mdash 67 million in Arizona Vs 50 million in Andhra Pradesh mdash makes all the differenceThat aside how does he feel working for a party that is often seen as antiimmigrant ldquoI laugh when people say that I am an Indian citizen working for the party How would they be against immigrants if they hired me The Republican Party is antiillegal immigrants just the way India doesnrsquot want illegal immigrants from Bangladeshrdquo he says insisting that the party is not xenophobic ldquoThey are probusiness peoplerdquoWe throw Donald trump at him mdash a man who seems to have the Republican Party divided down the middle Just on Thursday there was a report that dozens of Republican convention delegates were hatching a plan to block Trump at this summerrsquos party meetings in what has become the most organized effort so far to stop the businessman from becoming the GOP presidential nomineeBut Iragavarapu says off camera Trump is neither a hater nor a racist Sometime itrsquos just an image that one has to project during election time in order to get more facetime with the masses ldquoWhen he was fighting the elections the Indian PM Narendra Modi criticized the Congress for playing cricket with the Congress But when he became the PM he went and touched Nawaz Sharifrsquos motherrsquos feet Once you become PM or President you have to do things differentlyrdquo Politics then remains the same everywhere