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Kamala Harris, the US vice-presidential candidate, congratulated India on the progress “our people have made in the fight for justice”, on the country’s 74th Independence Day.
A day after filing her nominations for the US general elections along with democratic opponent Joe Biden, Senator Harris said that the Indian and US communities are bound by so much more than their shared history and culture.
Talking about her Indian heritage at an event held by “South Asians for Biden”, Kamala Harris spoke of “long walks” with her grandfather in Chennai (then Madras), and the “love of good idli” that her mother, a Tamil Indian-American activist and cancer researcher, had instilled in her.
The senator recalled the lessons on India’s freedom struggle from her grandfather P V Gopalan, a civil servant, which she said contributed to “why I am where I am today”.
With an eye on the 1.3 million Indian-Americans who are expected to vote in the 3 November election, Joe Biden’s umbrella organisation, ‘South Asians for Biden’, also launched the 'Indians for Biden National Council' on India’s Independence Day.
In his Independence Day message to India, Biden pledged to stand with the country as it confronts “new threats it faces in its own region and along its own border”.
While the democratic party has been intending to mobilise Indian-American voters across different backgrounds to back the Biden-Harris ticket, US President Donald Trump has claimed that he has "more Indians" on his side.
The coalitions – “Indian Voices for Trump”, “Hindu Voices for Trump”, “Sikhs for Trump” and “Muslim Voices for Trump” – are expected to fight against Biden-Harris in the states with a significant Indian-American voter base.
The Trump campaign will be taking over the banner of YouTube for 96 hours on Tuesday, the second day of the convention.
According to The New York Times, Trump campaign ads will also cover the home pages of The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and FoxNews.com.
(With inputs from New York Times, ANI)
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