Facing criticism after being awarded the Padma Bhushan, NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal today said he has been "pained" and "personally hurt" by the "malicious campaign" against him in India.
Chatwal, who was named for the honour for his contributions to promoting Indo-US ties, refuted reports that his offer of donation was turned down by US president Barack Obama's campaign managers during the 2008 US presidential election.
Chatwal, who is chairman of Indian American Democratic Committee, said he is "pained" and "personally hurt" at the "malicious campaign".
Responding to reports that his offer to raise $10 million for the Obama Campaign was turned down, he said: "The matter of the fact is that he (Obama) was all booked up with events across the country and a time and date could not be nailed down".
Chatwal, 63, said had he carried any "background and baggage" his fund raisers and contributions to election campaigns of top Democratic party leaders had not been accepted over the past several decades.
"Certainly that has not been the case," Chatwal told PTI.
In the run up to the 2008 US presidential elections, Chatwal had raised millions of dollars for Hillary Clinton during the primaries, and also made political contributions to the campaign of vice-president Joe Biden, as well as top Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who is now co-chair of the Senate India Caucus.
"To all these leading Democrats and presidential candidates, I gave my personal checks and none of them were returned by any of them," Chatwal said.
He said donations which are governed by strict rules and regulations by the Federal Election Commission and ethics rules of the US Congress would have been returned if there had been any "blemish" against him or if his contributions were considered "tainted".
"If that was case, how come I was invited for all the events president Obama, vice-president Joe Biden and secretary of state Hillary Clinton hosted for the prime minister (Dr Singh during his state visit in November)," he said.
Chatwal said, he has met Obama several times after he became the president.
"Every time we meet, we discuss Indo-US relationship. He wants to further deepen and strengthen the relationship between the two countries," he said.
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