INDO-AMERICANS AND THE US PRESIDENTIAL BATTLE

DONALD TRUMP/MIKE PENCE

Trump’s anti-immigrant stance made Indo-Americans apprehensive. However, many see him as a bulwark against illegal immigration and see stricter border controls as being aimed at Hispanics rather than Indians.

Several Indo-Americans are in leadership positions in the Trump-Pence team. Harmeet K Dhillon, a lawyer from San Francisco, has become the first Indian American to be on the Republican National Committee. Sue Ghosh Stricklett, another lawyer, worked in the Mitt Romney campaign. Shekhar Tiwari, an RSS activist, had endorsed Trump before anyone else. Republican candidate for US Senate from Louisiana Abhay Patel is also a Trump supporter.

Raju Chinthala was health policy adviser to vice-presidential candidate Pence, when he ran for governor in Indiana

HILLARY CLINTON/TIM KAINE

The Indo-American community has had Democrat leanings but it took Hillary Clinton to take an Indo-American into the heart of the Democrat establishment.

Neera Tanden was appointed by the Democratic Party to a panel that has drafted its policy agenda (equivalent to manifesto) for the November presidential election. Tanden, a long-time Clinton associate, could become a cabinet member if Clinton goes to the White House. She is the only Indian American in this committee of 15 members.

Maya Harris, a former senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, is part of a threemember team of Democrat policy advisors. She has a background in human rights, having served as vice-president of democracy, rights and justice at the Ford Foundation