What an election the US presidential race is turning out to be. The dramatic twist which saw President Biden dropped out of the race means we could see two Americans with strong Indian roots play a starring role — Kamala Harris, who is likely to be the Democratic nominee, and Usha Vance, the wife of the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, JD Vance.
Kamala Harris is Black and Indian. She credits her mother Shyamala Gopalan for her pride in her Indian heritage and culture. Usha Vance was born as Usha Chilukuri, the daughter of Indian immigrant parents who moved to the United States in the 1980s from the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Usha was born in San Diego and went on to study at Yale and Cambridge before joining a top notch law firm. She is a practicing Hindu, an interesting fact when you consider that her husband is Donald Trump’s running mate.
The rise of Kamala Harris and Usha Vance comes at a time when Indian Americans have become politically more vocal and visible in the US and are making a mark.
Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley are two other Indian American politicians who tried their luck for the White House on a Republican ticket, and made headlines while doing so.
According to data compiled by ‘The New York Times’, there are 5 Indian Americans in the US Congress and 40 per cent Indian Americans in state legislatures.
A new report shows that Indian Americans are also the wealthiest among those of Asian origin in America. Over the last few decades, the population of Indian Americans has grown, as the technology boom lead to the need for highly skilled workers, most of whom come from India.
‘The New York Times’ points out that ‘since at least 2008, Indian Americans, who have the highest voter turnout rates among Asian groups in presidential elections, have been a reliably Democratic voting bloc.’
They haven’t been big fans of Biden but surveys don’t suggest they support Trump. It will be interesting to see how their vote plays out with Kamala Harris in the race.
Not just America
We have seen Indian origin politicians flourish in the UK too. Rishi Sunak, the first proud Hindu Prime Minister of Britain, happily celebrated Diwali at 10, Downing Street. The Conservatives have a long line of leaders from different ethnic backgrounds. And while that is fascinating, what I don’t understand is why many of these Indian origin politicians have some of the most regressive, anti immigrant views.
Rishi Sunak was championing his party’s horrendous Rwanda policy, where illegal migrants were going to be shipped off to the African country. Keir Starmer’s first act as the new Prime Minister was to scrap it. As Home Secretary, Suella Braverman made some of the most toxic statements, once describing migration as “a hurricane that would bring millions more immigrants to these shores, uncontrolled and unmanageable.”
Her hard line was even more ironic given that her parents emigrated to the UK in the 1960s. She also opposed a trade deal with India, saying Indians were the largest group of people who overstayed their visas in the UK, while ruling out more visas for Indians as part of sealing the trade deal.
Across the pond, Vivek Ramaswamy had vowed to end the H-1B visa programme if elected President, a visa type used mostly by Indian professionals working in the US. Ironically, Ramaswamy used the H-1B system in the past to hire high-skilled foreign workers for his pharma company. The hypocrisy of politicians like Ramaswamy and Braverman is breathtaking.
So while it may be nice to see Indian origin politicians do well in the west, let’s not go overboard and get overexcited. Indians don’t need validation from the West. Indian origin politicians are loyal to the country they live in and were born in. Not to India. Their rise makes no real difference to foreign policy or their approach to India. Their politics is defined by what they need to do to succeed. Not by their Indian roots.
