Two Indian-Americans in Illinois governor scandal: report

New York, Dec 13 (PTI) As lawmakers moved closer to
impeach disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, a media
report Saturday claimed that two Indian-American businessmen
were involved in a fund-raising campaign to encourage the
Governor to pick Jesse Jackson Jr to fill President-elect
Barack Obama's senate seat.

Blagojevich has so far resisted calls by Obama and his
fellow Democrat leaders to resign, but now in an unprecedented
step Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has asked the
Supreme Court to declare the controversial governor unfit to
serve. She has asked the court to appoint Lt Gov Patrick Quinn
as acting governor.

The Chicago Tribune has reported that as Blagojevich was
trying to pick Illinois' next Senator, two businessmen with
ties to Jesse Jackson Jr and him discussed raising at least
one million for the governor's campaign as a way to encourage
him to pick Jackson for the job.

Blagojevich, the paper said, made an appearance at an Oct
31 luncheon meeting at the India House restaurant in
Schaumburg sponsored by businessman Raghuveer Nayak, a major
Blagojevich supporter who also has fundraising and business
ties to the Jackson family.

Quoting two businessmen who attended the meeting, the
Tribune claimed that Nayak and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi
privately told many of the more than two dozen attendees, the
fundraising effort was aimed at supporting Jackson's bid for
the Senate.

Under the rules, if a Senator resigns, the governor
initially appoints a replacement, as each State has two
Senators.

Among the attendees at the luncheon, the paper said was a
Blagojevich fundraiser already under scrutiny by federal
investigators, pharmacist Harish Bhatt.

The meeting led to a Blagojevich fundraiser, co-sponsored
by Nayak and attended by Jesse Jackson Jr's brother, Jonathan,
as well as Blagojevich, the paper said, citing several people
who were there.

Blagojevich and Jackson met to discuss the Senate seat on
Monday, one day before federal prosecutors arrested
Blagojevich and charged him with trying to sell the US Senate.

As part of the charges, prosecutors alleged that
Blagojevich was considering awarding the seat to a politician
identified as "Senate Candidate 5" because emissaries for that
candidate were promising to raise as much as USD 1.5 million
for Blagojevich's campaign fund.

The paper quoted Iftekhar Shareef, past president of the
influential Federation of Indian Associations, as saying he
attended the fundraiser for the governor at the invitation of
Bedi and Nayak. Shareef said the congressman's brother
Jonathan also attended.

"Raghu [Nayak] is always talking about how we need to
appoint Jesse to the Senate," Shareef said. "They are very
close. Raghu is close with all the Jacksons. He even asked me
to write a letter to the governor supporting Jesse Jackson for
the Senate." Shareef said he wrote the letter.

A half-dozen other attendees at the two events were
quoted by the paper as saying they never heard talk about
trying to get Jackson placed into the Senate.

Bedi's brother, Jatinder, a journalist, acknowledged
being at the India House event but said "there was no
discussion of the Senate seat."

The paper said Rajinder Bedi couldn't be reached for
comment but Nayak declined to comment.

Nayak, 54, is a political and community leader in
Chicago's Indian community who has raised hundreds of
thousands of dollars for Blagojevich, including more than USD
200,000 from Nayak, his wife and his various corporations, the
paper said.

Nayak and his wife have donated more than USD 22,000 to
Jackson, federal records show, and raised more for the
congressman.

Nayak owns a series of surgery centers on Chicago's North
Side. He also founded and until recently retained an ownership
stake in a drug testing laboratory with millions of dollars in
Illinois public aid contracts.