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The four Indian-American Democrats in the United States House of Representatives or the Samosa Caucus have all won their re-election races with ease, yet all the other Indian-origin contestants failed to enter the House of Representatives.

While Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, Pramila Jayapal from Washington, Ro Khanna from California and Ami Bera, also for California, retained their seats, all the 37 non-incumbent challengers lost their bids for the House of Representatives.

"Although I am disappointed that we will not be growing the Samosa Caucus, I'm pleased to see that a number of Indian-Americans won elections to state legislatures and local offices," Krishnamoorthi told ET in an email interview.

In the coming Congress, he hopes to continue serving on the House oversight committee and is looking forward to Congress increasing its oversight of the Trump administration and making certain "Congress exercises its constitutional role of balance of power as an equal branch of government in the U.S.".

Representative Krishnamoorthi, who has been re-elected to the U.S. House for a second term, will continue to focus on key immigration policy issues, which impact thousands of Indians in the U.S. and Indian companies, in the new House. One of the sponsors for the Immigration Innovation Act of 2018, he will also continue working to address the green card backlog issue.

"I plan to propose immigration reforms that continue to allow the United States to attract the best and the brightest from all over the world," Krishnamoorthi said.

The other big triumph from the Indian-American community was that of Josh Kaul as attorney general of Wisconsin, making him the lone Indian-American elected official to serve in statewide office in the U.S. 

"The next Congress is likely to take up immigration reform which impacts Indians and Indian-Americans including undocumented immigrants, H-1B visa holders, and their spouses, people stuck in the backlog, and families trying to reunite in America," said Gautam Raghavan, executive director, Indian American Impact Fund, the organization which endorsed and supported many of the first-time desi candidates.

By Sowmya