EDISON, NEW JERSEY, USA, January 21, 2008: On being sworn in as a member of the Edison Township Council on New Year’s Day, Dr. Sudhanshu Prasad chose to take the oath of office on the Bhagwad Gita.
Dr. Prasad said he chose the Gita because he grew up believing in it, and it is “where my conscience is.”
Dr. Prasad, an internal medicine physician and former chairman of the JFK Hospital Department of Medicine, has lived in New Jersey for almost 18 years. “I’ve always been involved in the affairs of the township,” he said when asked about his service to the community. “I was involved in the election process in the past two elections, so it was almost like a natural progression.” He was not desirous of holding office. “But my team almost pushed me into candidacy,” he said on a laugh.
Edison, named after Thomas Alva Edison and home to his laboratory, has a population of more than 100,000 people, according to the township’s official Web site.