GOP & Bush fundraising from India, page 1

Bush campaign ran from Noida call centre

KA Badarinath and Prerna K Mishra
New Delhi, May 16

The political split in the US over outsourcing notwithstanding, till very recently the fund-raising and vote-seeking campaign for the Republican Party was done partly out of India. And this was handled by two call centres located in our own friendly neighbourhood in Noida and Gurgaon.

For 14 months between May 16, 2002 and July 22, 2003, HCL BPO Services � the 100 per cent-owned subsidiary of Shiv Nadar-promoted HCL Technologies � had some 125 agents working in seven teams soliciting financial contributions for the Republican Party. US presidential elections are slated for November 2004.

The mandate for the teams was to mobilise support for President George W. Bush and solicit political contributions ranging between $5 and $3,000 from lakhs of registered Republican voters. The voters� database was provided by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the party�s premier political organisation.

The contract for running the campaigns was originally awarded by RNC to Washington-based Capital Communications Group that provides consulting services to government and private clients for cultural and political networking. For cost and efficiencies gains, the company outsourced the work to HCL Technologies that in turn sent it offshore.

Hindustan Times

With his father & former president hosting fundraisers in the UK & these call centers out of India, how is this not being investigated? Would some of our more learned members on the subject of campaign finance & legality please weigh in on this?

Thanks