Democrat Pennsylvania state senator Nikil Saval represents the first district, which is the heart of Philadelphia. First elected in 2020, Senator Saval was re-elected in November 2024. He started his political career working with the labour union movement and in 2016 joined Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Since assuming office, Senator Saval has been working on issues of housing, climate, and worker justice. He spoke to Ishani Duttagupta of the Times of India on the challenges faced by Indian Americans choosing a career in politics and public life; the need for bipartisanship on legislation that impact the lives of common people and several other issues. Edited excerpts from the interview.
Q: You won the state senate election in Pennsylvania first in 2020 and were re-elected in 2024 – as a second generation Indian immigrant, what were the reasons for you to choose public life as a career option?
A: I chose to be involved in trade union and labour organising and was motivated to join politics because of my opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was trying to find ways of engaging in politics so that we could build pure political power – on the one hand, to stop disruptive wars and direct the resources of US government towards peace and, on the other hand, build support for working class people in the US and across the world. I became a volunteer, researcher and organiser for the hospitality union which includes workers in hotels, restaurants, sports arenas, and airports etc. There are immigrants from east and south Asia, Latin America, and a broad group of White and Black workers, all working together to build political power. And that was a formative experience for me. The second thing that changed my trajectory was working with the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016. I thought that it was for the first time that there was the real possibility of a transformational candidate for president. And it was his example that helped many in Philadelphia to organise and try to win local elections. Even though he lost the election, many people who were inspired by him, won elections in Philadelphia and I helped them to get elected. And that experience ultimately inspired me to run for office in the state myself. In the US political system, government at the state level is very powerful.

Q: You were part of Senator Sanders’ presidential campaign and have supported him; in what ways has he inspired you? What is your future vision for the Democratic Party?
A: For me the Democratic Party is the party for supporting workers and workers’ rights and civil rights. It is also the party supporting environmental justice. But the party has not always been that party. Right now, and for many years the party has been too been beholden to wealthy supporters and has been supportive of wars. Many Democrats supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Barack Obama, when he was president, expanded conflict to multiple countries and our last Democratic president was far too supportive of Israel’s war in Gaza. So, we need to move again towards being a party that supports working class people and organising their lives better and a party that supports peace.
Q: Your parents, who immigrated from India, were small business owners. Did you get a lot of support from Indian Americans for your election campaigns?
A: Absolutely. While the district that I represent is not very Indian American; with some Indian American professionals working in hospitals and in financial services; overall the region has a huge number of Indian Americans. There are many nurses here who came from Kerala. But there are very few south Asians in government and I find it important to meet Indian Americans everywhere in the state. In north east Pennsylvania, there are Indian Americans working in service professions, there are many working in taxi services and in casinos. People from the sub-continent work in several professions and as an elected government representative, it is important for me to seek out Indian Americans wherever they are. Even though I may not represent the district that they are in; I am a representative of the community.

Q: Do you see many Indian Americans like yourself choosing a career in public life and politics in your state as well as across the US? What are the challenges?
A: There has been an enormous transformation since my childhood when there were very few members of the community in public life. I will attribute some of that to the relative newness of the community. When you first arrive in a country, politics is a risky profession and in many cases those who choose a career in politics are barely paid or not paid at all. So that is not something that you are necessarily encouraged to go into; though my parents have always been very encouraging. But there has been a major change in the last five years; the number of Indian Americans in public life has exploded. We are seeing more diversity generally in the public sphere and President Obama was an inspiration. Even though not an Indian, you can still see part of yourself in his background. Then there are also organisations that have sprung up to help Indian Americans seeking a career in public life such as Indian American Impact, a national organisation, and Asia Pacific Islander Political Alliance in Pennsylvania, which works for all Asian Americans. It helps to see yourself as part of political projects and those are the things helping people see themselves get involved in politics. I think the challenges are twofold; the political establishment does not know what to do with Indian Americans and I think they don’t see where their allegiances lie or where their partisan affiliations are. There are several Indian Americans who are Republicans and who will be involved in the Cabinet of Donald Trump; but overwhelmingly the Indian American population has a Democratic leaning. Most of us are Democratic and finding a distinctive political identity and acceptance is a challenge. There are only a handful of places where the majority of people will be Indian American; so, you will have to work to represent lots and lots of different people and build broad coalitions.
Q: You are a role model in the community. Do a lot of young Indian Americans reach out to you for mentorship?
A: There are a lot of people reaching out including high school students and journalists. I make it a point to speak to any Indian American who wants to speak with me. If in the same position, I would have appreciated the conversation. There are a lot of volunteers in the political campaigns I have run and many people look for advice or support. I make it a point to encourage and help guide people who are looking for a path to enter politics. They don’t necessarily have to run for office but could be trying to find a foothold in public life. I certainly wanted that myself and would like to help provide that opportunity to other people.
Q: In 2022, you worked for bipartisan support for a pathbreaking legislation, are you looking at working across the aisle for other Bills in future?
A: Certainly, it is a practical matter. Pennsylvania has a divided government; with a Republican majority in the upper chamber; while the governor is Democrat and we control the state House. Generally, the issues that I care about and the issues that we need to work on have no partisan basis. Housing is an issue that affects people in rural and urban areas and both Democrats and Republicans are for safe, stable, and universal housing. We have to appeal to people outside of our partisan basis and work with representatives across political and geographic boundaries. The legislation that I am already working on is to increase the supply of housing and to make it easier for renters. Those Bills already have bipartisan support and we are going to reintroduce them. As the chair of the urban affairs and housing committee, I will be working with Republican colleagues to advance priorities. I think it is essential for the nature of the issues that we work on.
Q: Has your Indian heritage helped shape your journey?
A: My parents are from Bangalore [Bengaluru] and I grew up speaking English and Kannada. Now, my parents live close to us and we spend a lot of time together. We visit temples and celebrate festivals like Ganesha Habba. I helped pass a Bill to make Diwali a state holiday in Pennsylvania. We visited India in December 2023, for the first time with my two boys, Ishaan, and Mayukh; they are six and three. Many of my uncles and cousins are in India and I have usually visited India every two or three years. During the pandemic there was a long stretch that I did not.
Q: What do you like doing in India?
A: Both my children and I love south Indian food. We love Indian meals and my kids love dosa. When we were in Bengaluru, they would eat traditional south Indian food all three meals a day. We did travel a bit in south India. I have travelled to Kerala, Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan, and Kolkata, which is one of my favourite cities. We love to go to local markets and to visit temples. I love Indian cinema and Carnatic music and like to go to classical music programmes.
Q: Lately there has been a lot of racist rhetoric in the US against Indian professionals; as an elected government representative, have you been approached by Indians in your district, for support against such attacks?
A: I strongly reject the racist and xenophobic rhetoric that we have seen around the H-1B visa programme and against immigrants. This increased in the election year and in recent years. Immigrants of all status are fundamental to key sectors of our economy and, as an example, we would not have a functional healthcare system if we did not have huge number of professionals, on different immigration status, working at every level of healthcare delivery. Agriculture is another sector that depends on immigrant workers. So, far from demonising people who seek opportunities in the US; we should be celebrating and encouraging them to come to the US. Many visas tend to be exploitative and people should have more security in their job and work lives when they come here to work. This issue has come up in the community and there are concerns. Recently I heard this conversation among Malayalis in Philadelphia. While certainly there are concerns; but broadly people in the US are supportive because many have been helped by someone on an H-1B visa.