Trump to address US Hindus

Possible bid by GOP nominee to gain support of increasingly influential Indian American community

And while most of them are of Indian descent, others are from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Caribbean and Afghanistan.

The number of Indian Americans, however, is estimated to be around 3 million — with only a third of them said to be voters. And of them, most vote Democratic, overwhelmingly.

That is despite the fact that the only two Indian Americans ever elected governors — Nikki Haley in South Carolina and Bobby Jindal in Louisiana — were both Republicans.

While proud of them — at least of Haley (Jindal has angered the community for trying to distance himself from it) — they have been slow to follow them to the fold.

But GOP is courting them actively, and Hindus. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich is the honorary chairman of RHC, whose inauguration in 2015 was attended by many senior leaders.

But can they find enough Hindu Americans to pack the hall on September 24? Trump does not like empty stands, and his campaign has sought space for 200 TV cameras. “Oh there will be plenty of people don’t worry,” said Kumar, “we will be flooded.” He may not find room, however, for all the cameras that the campaign expects.

RHC also plans to parade some Bollywood stars at the show, which was fine with Trump, a one-time owner of beauty pageants — “he said Indian people are beautiful”.

Amar D Amar, a New Jersey professor who co-founded and heads Indian Americans for Trump 2016, a political action committee, told HT he will be attending too.