Leading Indian-American groups and individuals, including former PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi, have hailed the nomination of Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris as Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate, saying it was a “great choice” and a “moment of pride” for the entire community in the US.
However, some community members questioned Ms Harris’s contribution towards the Indo-US ties and said they would not be influenced by identity politics.
On Tuesday, conjectural Democratic party Presidential nominee Joe Biden named 55-year-old Kamala Harris as his Vice-Presidential running mate, making history by selecting the first black woman to compete on a major party’s Presidential ticket.
Kamala’s father is an African from Jamaica and mother an Indian, is currently the US Senator from California.
Ms Nooyi, who is seen as a role model by millions of women across the world, tweeted, “This is a great choice for our country.”
Kamala Harris herself was a presidential aspirant until last year before she dropped out of the race because of lack of popular support.
“What an electric moment for the Indian-American community! Indian-Americans are now truly a mainstream community in the national fabric,” MR Rangaswami, an eminent Indian-American and the founder of Indiaspora, told news agency PTI.
‘’Kamala shares a story of a changing, inclusive America… Her candidacy is historic and inspiring, not only for Black Americans, but for millions of Asian American voters, the fastest growing voting bloc in the country,” IMPACT’s executive director Neil Makhija said.
Welcoming the decision, IMPACT, a leading Indian-American advocacy group and a Political Action Committee, said it will raise USD 10 million for the campaign.
“America meinKhila Kamal (Lotus blooms in the US),” a nationwide campaign has been announced on Tuesday by Kamala Harris’s supporters.
Mr Bhutoria is also the creator of a multi-language campaign, including in Hindi, which says, “America Ka Neta Kaisa Ho, Jo Biden Jaisa Ho!! (How America’s leader should be, like Biden)”, as part of the efforts to reach to the Indian-American community.
According to Neha Dewan, National Director of South Asians for Biden, Kamala has been fighting for justice throughout her time in public service, which makes her an “uniquely inspired choice” to take on Trump and the Republicans.
Ms Harris will build stronger US-India relations, said Rajendra Dichpally from US India Security Council.
However, With Kamala Harris’s nomination not all Indian-Americans were happy.
“Yes, there will be initial excitement and confusion for a few weeks amongst the Indian Americans – debating whether to vote for Biden due to Kamala Harris being of Indian Heritage or voting for Trump, who has been great for India-US relations. There is and there will be a lot of hustling by the Biden-Harris combo for the Indian-American votes in the battleground states,” Al Mason, co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee, told news agency PTI.
A recent survey done by Trump supporters AI Mason claims that 50 per cent of the Indian-Americans in key battleground states like Texas, Michigan, Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania who traditionally vote for Democrats, are now switching over to the Trump camp.
According to Sridhar Chillara, founder and chairman of the Asian American Republican Alliance, Indian-Americans will vote “with eyes wide open” in the presidential election and “reject the game of hypocrisy and identity politics played by the Democrats”.
Acknowledging that Ms Harris’s nomination will excite many community members, as this is the closest the community has come to the Oval Office, Indian-Americans for Trump in a statement said, however, there is a lot of opposition to her.
Indian-American physician Dr Raj Bhayani said historically, selection of vice president candidates has had no effect on the outcome of the presidential race.
