Republican Hindu group scales back campaign for Trump

During the 2016 election campaign around this time, then- candidate Donald Trump addressed a large, glamorous rally of thousands of cheering Hindus — the first time a US presidential candidate reached out to followers of the faith.

But this time there won’t be such an event. The Republican Hindu Coalition ( RHC), which organised the event on October 15, 2016, in New Jersey, is scaling back its campaign for Trump and will not hold events for him unless he gives an assurance on immigration reform, according to its founder Shalabh Kumar.

Seeking clarification

Kumar said he and the group’s members would continue to support Trump and urge Hindus to vote for him, butwill not hold any campaign events like the one in 2016whichwas attended by over 8,000 people. In the US, electioneering based on religious appeal is legal and common at all levels. “We are asking all our members to support Trump in their individual capacity to vote for Trump and for Republicans in general,” Kumar said. “But in terms of major campaign events like what we did in New Jersey and what we didwith ‘ Apki

Baar Trump Sarkar’ commercial which we aired every day, we are waiting for a meeting with the President to clarify his position particularly on the Green Card back log ,” he said.

He asserted that the RHC had about 50,000 members and because the Hindus came from all over the world, their number in the US exceeded that of immigrants coming directly from India and their children.

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has launched an outreach under its own umbrella called the ‘ Hindu Voices for Trump’, as part of a multi- pronged drive that also separately targets Sikhs, Muslims and Indian-Americans in general. But it has been acting low key, not organising any big campaign events for Hindus and it emphasises religious freedom and economic opportunities. For the first time, Democrats have also reached out to members of the religion with a “Hindus for Biden” initiative spearheaded by Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House of Representatives. In the past, the Democrats’ explicit outreach had been to religions like Islamand Judaism and excluded Hinduism. Noting the change in the Democratic Party, Kumar quipped: “We have at least made the Hindu word popular.”

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has launched an outreach under its own umbrella called the ‘ Hindu Voices for Trump’.