(Image source from: KERA News)

Drawing an inference between 'Diwali', the Indian festival of lights, and the political climate in America, Virginia's junior Democratic senator Tim Kaine has asserted, "The battle is never over. There is always a battle between light and darkness. There is always a battle between good and evil. There is always a battle between wisdom and ignorance."

Addressing an auditorium full of Asian-American activists at a Diwali celebration held some three weeks before the crucial midterm elections, Kaine, a former vice presidential candidate warned, "We can never be complacent because as soon as we are, something will happen: the 2016 election for example that will shock us and make us realize that we have more work to do." The lawmaker was Hillary Clinton's running mate in that hotly-contested election which saw Donald Trump pulling off the biggest upset in the United States history by occupying the White House.

This year, Diwali - the most popular Indian festival celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists - falls on November 7, a day after Polling day in America.

"I'm a very religious person and I love the religious impulse of any person," the Virginia senator told the gathering. "I love the spiritual impulse of any person. My Muslim friends help me be a better Catholic and I hope if I'm a good Catholic, I'm going to help my Jewish friends be better, my Hindu friends be better, my Sikh friends be better, my Buddhist friends be better. We all can influence each other," he said adding, "Learning about each other's spiritual traditions makes life so rich."

The Diwali celebration of its kind was the third annual event, co-hosted by Democratic Asian Americans of Virginia (DAAV) and Virginia's 11th Congressional District Democratic Committee (CDDC).

Thanking DAAV for organizing the event, Kaine affirmed that the organization "is really an important part of our state Democratic Party. Our Asian-American constituency is very vast geographically, religiously, in the number of languages that are spoken, and cultures," he noted.

"The vastness, the richness, the diversity is so exciting. The Asian-American community is the fastest-growing community by percentage in the U.S., particularly in Virginia, and DAAV has done a wonderful job of bringing together this incredibly diverse community and harnessing energies, electing candidates, putting canvassers and voters and volunteers in positions of influence," said the senator who has galore Asian-Americans on his personnel.

Kaine has represented Virginia for a period of 24 years - from being a mayor and City Council member in Richmond to Lieutenant Governor, Governor, and now the U.S. senator.

By Sowmya Sangam