◼ POLITICS Bloomberg Businessweek November 2, 202031ILLUSTRATION
BY
JONATHAN
DJOB
NKONDO
Intheircorner, theDemocrats haveHarris,
whosemotherwasborninIndia’sTamilNadustate
andwhousedtheTamilword“chittis” (“aunties”) in
her speech at the Democratic National Convention.
“The optics on Trump’s side might be good, but
look at the actions,” Narasimhan says. “Our argu-
ment focuses on having Kamala Harris on the ticket.”
According to the YouGov survey, half of Indian-
Americans said the pick made them more enthusi-
astic about Biden, with most citing Harris’s Indian
heritage. But 31% said it made no difference, and 15%
said it made them less enthusiastic. Of those in the
last category, 20% said Harris identifies more with
her Black roots, and 19% said she will weaken India-
U.S. relations.
Harris expressed support last year for India-
born Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington
Democrat, who introduced a resolution in Congress
to urge India to uphold human rights in Kashmir. In
response, India’s foreign minister refused to attend
a meeting with U.S. lawmakers including Jayapal.
Courtney Parella, deputy national presssecretaryfortheTrumpcampaign,saysBiden
having Harris on his ticket “won’t fix his enthu-
siasm problem” among Indian-Americans, citing
“Howdy, Modi!” by way of contrast.
Former U.S. ambassador to India Richard Verma
and other Indian-American Democrats point to
Obama-Biden trade and defense deals with India
and say Trump’s restrictions on visas and revok-
ing of India’s preferential trade status show that
his policies don’t match his chumminess with the
prime minister.
But there are rumblings of discord within the
party. Biden has been asked by Indian-American
donors about the Muslim-American agenda page
on his website, which calls to restore rights “for
all the people of Kashmir” and expresses “disap-
pointment” over India’s handling of the citizen-
ship law. A “South Asians for Biden” talking-points
document seen by Bloomberg Businessweek cites
voter concerns such as “Biden is anti-India” and
“Biden only cares about the Muslim commu-
nity.” Meanwhile, Emgage PAC, the largest