New Jersey’s Governor-elect Phil Murphy’s Transition Team reveals his close connections to the Indian-American community which he courted during his election campaign. The vast team, named in various focus areas, was announced in a news release Nov. 13, with Indian Americans Jay Bhatti, Balpreet Grewal-Virk, Ehsan F. Chowdhry and Lt. Col. Kamal Singh Kalsi being included.
Barely a week after winning his seat to lead the state Nov. 7, Murphy has selected an Indian-American veteran, Lt. Col. Kamal S. Kalsi to his Transition 2018 leadership team, in the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. Bhatti, the co-founder of BrandProject, was named to the government technology and innovation team.
Grewal-Virk, the director of community engagement at Hackensack Meridian Health’s Department of Population Health, was named to the healthcare team. Chowdhry, the president of the New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association, was named to the law and justice, social justice subcommittee team.
“I pledged to build my administration to mirror the diversity, talent, and potential of New Jersey, and my transition will be no different,” Governor-elect Murphy is quoted saying in a press release. Murphy won by a 13-percentage point lead over his Republican opponent Kim Guadagno. “To a person, this transition is full of incredible talent and experience, and I’m thrilled to see them serve. Together, we’ll start the difficult job of building a stronger, fairer economy that works for all nine million New Jerseyans,” Murphy added.
