Offensive GOP ad directed at Hindu voters backfires in Texas

TEXAS REPUBLICANS use of a Hindu deity on a campaign ad may have had the opposite effect the GOP wanted.

The ad used an image of of Lord Ganesha in place of the GOP's elephant mascot, urging support of the Republican Party.

The ad appeared to be an attempt to reach out to Hindu voters on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi and urged Indian American Hindu voters in the county to vote Republican by asking, “Would you worship a donkey or an elephant? The choice is yours,” the foundation said in a news release.

“While we appreciate the Fort Bend County GOP’s attempt to reach out to Hindus on an important Hindu festival, its ad — equating Hindus’ veneration of the Lord Ganesha with choosing a political party based on its animal symbol – is problematic and offensive,” Rishi Bhutada, Hindu American Foundation board member and a Fort Bend County resident, said in a statement.

The Fort Bend GOP responded with the following statement:

“The ad was meant to be part of the celebration and acknowledge the occasion. The ad was not meant to disparage Hindu customs or traditions in any way. This ad was created with input from those of Hindu faith so that we could properly pay respect to the sacred festival. This highlights the difficulty in outreach that can be positive for one group but not for another in the same community. We offer our sincerest apologies to anyone that was offended by the ad. Obviously, that was not the intent.”

It may have made sense for Republicans to outreach to that population since an Indian American is the Democratic candidate for Congressional District 22. Asians and Pacific Islanders make up 21 percent of the population, almost four times the national average.

“Equating Hindus’ worship of Ganesh with a political party’s symbol is wrong and promotes inaccurate stereotypes about the Hindu-American community,” Sri Preston Kulkarni, who’s running against Republican incumbent Pete Olson for a congressional seat in District 22,. “No party should use a religious icon in an attack ad,” he wrote on Facebook.

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