New WFP ad attacks Rajkumar as ‘Modi’s best friend in Queens’

The progressive Working Families Party’s super PAC  plans to release a series of digital ads on Friday taking aim at Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar’s alleged ties to right-wing nationalists, City & State has learned. 

The WFP has endorsed Rajkumar’s democratic socialist primary challenger David Orkin.

Rajkumar, who is the first Hindu and first South Asian woman elected to the state Legislature, currently represents Assembly District 38 in Queens, which covers part of Ridgewood, Glendale and Woodhaven. The district has one of the highest concentrations of South Asians and Indo-Caribbeans in the state, with diverse Muslim, Sikh and Hindu populations.

Critics have accused Rajkumar of having ties to global political networks that support right-wing nationalist leaders like President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The new ads hammer home that message. “Modi’s best friend in Queens?” one ad asks, highlighting a tweet that Rajkumar sent in 2014 celebrating Modi’s visit to New York City. “Jenifer Divides Us. David Unites Us.” Another ad includes photographs of Trump, Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and states that “Jenifer Works For Them” because she has received “Over $100,000 in Donations From Their Friends.”

Orkin is not South Asian himself, but a couple of the ads feature him with Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The mayor, who won the district by 39 points in the primary last year, has not formally endorsed Orkin, though he has previously criticized Rajkumar for taking money from “Hindu fascists.”

The ads are funded through an independent expenditure committee tied to the WFP called the WFP National PAC NYS IE. South Asian advocacy group DRUM Beats and progressive political strategist Amit Singh Bagga, advised on the ads.

“Our communities don't need electeds like Jenifer Rajkumar who promote themselves through photo-ops, while actually working against our people’s material interests – undermining tenants, catering to corporations, and serving right-wing movements both here and abroad,” DRUM Beats Director Fahd Ahmed said in a statement. “We are excited about a choice for meaningful change with David Orkin.”

Rajkumar’s campaign accused the groups behind the ads of singling her out because of her religion. “The socialists know they are losing big in South Queens, so they are closing this campaign with desperation, hate, and religious bigotry,” Rajkumar spokesperson Arvind Sooknanan said in a statement. “They cannot compete with Assemblywoman Rajkumar’s record of uniting communities, delivering real results, and achieving historic wins for our families. So they are targeting her faith as the first Hindu ever elected to New York State office.”

Sooknanan noted that many of the Modi supporters who donated to Rajkumar have also donated to other Democratic politicians. “These same Hindu donors have contributed to leaders across the Democratic Party, including Cory Booker, President Biden, and the DNC,” he said. “Yet Assemblywoman Rajkumar is being singled out for one reason: she is Hindu.”

Bagga said all Democrats, including Rajkumar, should return contributions from those donors. In a statement referencing her iconic red dress, he accused her of supporting division in the South Asian community.

“The Rajkumar Red is far more than just a dress; it’s flashing red warning sign: Queens, you in danger, girl – a vote for me is a vote for the global right wing that is endangering our communities from South Queens to South Delhi,” he said.

After City & State shared drafts of the ads with Rajkumar and asked her for comment, the Hindu American Foundation condemned the upcoming ad buy in a series of X posts. “A shocking display of naked anti-Hindu hate & racism in New York Assembly election,” the group, which has also been accused of supporting right-wing Hindu nationalism, wrote on X. “Taking on the enormously popular @JeniferRajkumar, her @DemSocialists opponent, @david4queens resorts to dual loyalty slurs & attacks HAF regurgitating discredited @Wikipedia talking points.”