Senior Indian American leader Swadesh Chatterjee has said the community is hesitant to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 election as she has not developed a base among them in her previous roles as Senator or the Attorney General of California.
A Padma Bhushan awardee of 2001, the Democratic community has created the “Indian Americans for Harris” group and has been campaigning for her not only in the state of North Carolina — where he is based — but is also organising support for the vice president in other battleground states.
While accepting that the community is hesitant to vote for her overwhelmingly because they do not know her well, Chatterjee said that Harris, as the Attorney General of California, did not build up an Indian American base and was not a part of any community meetings or any of their events as a Senator.
“She did not have that kind of base though she is of Indian origin,” he told PTI in an interview.
Chatterjee said his observation on the challenges that Harris is facing in the last fortnight of her historic campaign for the presidential polls is based on the feedback he and his team has received from Indian Americans.
“It can be a challenge, although they (the Harris Campaign) are trying to address it. They knew very well that Kamala did not have loyalty from both the Asian American and South Asian community,” he said in response to a question.
The Indian American leader said the community as a whole is very fragmented.
“Indian Americans who are a bit affluent think that (Republican nominee) Donald Trump will reduce tax. Also, people who have got that little bit about Hinduism, think Trump will be better for US-India relations because of the Howdy Modi and Namaste Trump events in Texas and Ahmedabad, respectively.”
According to Chatterjee, Harris did not recognize the contribution of her mother and her Indian heritage when she was a Senate member.
“But, when she was nominated as vice president, she really got into the Indian American community. A lot of community leaders supported her and she got elected. (President) Joe Biden also supported Indian Americans,” he said.
Chatterjee said he has put up a video and built a website to “try and let people know that she is of Indian origin”.
“She acknowledged that at the Democratic convention. So please respect the party line and please support (her). That’s the message I wanted to give to the community,” he said.
According to the website, “The Indian American community is now nearing the five-million mark in the United States, with one-third of them born in the USA. Indian Americans are actively and responsibly contributing to the larger community and nation-building with passion, appreciating the opportunities provided by the US for themselves and their families.”
“Distinctly recognised in various high-skill professions, their presence is notable in medicine, IT, scientific research, education, journalism, and corporate leadership. A significant number of small businesses are owned and operated by Indian Americans, creating much-needed employment. They are currently the highest-income group among Asian Americans,” it states.
Responding to a question, Chatterjee said the ruling Democratic Party has put Indian Americans in the group of Asian-American-Pacific Islanders which is not liked by the community.
Harris, as the presidential nominee, has not done any event for the Indian Americans, he said. “Only one event was done by Vinod Khosla for President (Joe) Biden in the earlier stage of the campaign.”
Chatterjee said the response of the Indian American community to Kamala Harris has been mixed.
“Our community, as a whole, is very emotional. We are very sentimental. Some people think that Harris is not good for US-India relations because they are not that much knowledgeable about policy matters.
“Unless you are involved in this, you don’t look at the bigger picture. To be frank, US-India relations are at a point where it doesn’t matter who is in the White House,” Chatterjee told PTI.
He said the US Senate and the Congress are totally for US-India relations and “they will play a much bigger role than the White House”.
“I think the US-India relation… has got a lot more other factors that really promote it and will continue in that trajectory no matter who comes to the White House. A lot of people don’t understand that,” Chatterjee added.
