Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s V-P choice: How Indian Americans welcomed her selection

New Delhi: Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden has picked California Senator Kamala Harris to be his vice-presidential running mate.

Harris will be the first Indian American Senator nominated for Vice President by a major party.

“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden tweeted.

Kamala Harris’s India connection

Kamala Harris is a 55-year-old Indian-American senator representing California. Her father, Donald Harris, was from Jamaica, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher and civil rights activist hailed from Chennai.

After her parents divorced, Kamala Harris was raised by her Indian mother, said a report.

If elected, Kamala Harris would become the first ever woman to be the vice president of the United States and the first ever Indian-American and African vice president of the country.

The lawyer-politician was once described as a trailblazer by former US president Barack Obama.

How Indian Americans praised her nomination

“This is a great choice for our country,” tweeted Ms Nooyi, who is seen as a role model by millions of women across the world.
“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, a told news agency.

The Indo-American Democratic Organisation, one of the oldest South Asian American political advocacy bodies in the US, noted that a “Biden-Harris administration will prioritise the needs and challenges faced by immigrants”.

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.

“Kamala Harris’s story is the 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.