With the US presidential election set to take place this year, campaigns and announcements have been heating up between the Democrats and the Republicans. Both the parties are eyeing for a crucial vote bank – Indians, especially Hindus. Hindus have not only become a formidable vote bank in India but also in the United States. This has become conspicuous with Republicans and the Democrats trying to pull the Indians on their side by coaxing the Indians in different ways.
Hinduism is the fourth largest faith in the US and Hindus represent 1% of the population of the population of United States, according to 2016 population data.
The Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden appointed his staunch rival during the Democratic primaries, Kamala Harris, owing to her Indian background in the hope of getting some Indian American votes in the kitty. As soon as the news of Kamala Harris’ appointment came, Trump waived of the restrictions in granting H1B visas, one of the pressing points in India-US relations.
Now both the parties are going out of their way to woo the Hindu votes in their favour. President Donald Trump has said that re-electing him will ‘reduce obstacles to religious freedom’ for Hindus in America. On top of this, the Trump Campaign announced the formation of “Hindu Voices for Trump” on August 14. To give tough to Trump, the Democratic campaign team has said that Biden has made an outreach to the Hindus. Neelima Gonuguntla, a Hindu leader participated in the interfaith service to launch the Democratic National Convention. She recited the Shanti Mantra from the Vedas in Sanskrit, ending with ‘Om shanti, shanti shanti’. She also went on to quote from Mahabharata and concluded with a Chinmaya Mission prayer. The service saw participation of leaders from other faiths like Islam and Sikh too.
“Biden has made outreach to the Hindu community a priority”, the South Asians for Biden platforms was quoted saying. Biden has promised increased access to security grants prosecution of hate crimes committed on temples. He has also promised to streamline the processing of religious worker visas that benefit Hindu Swamis and religious scholars.
However, Republican Party’s Hindu Voices for Trump seems to be a step ahead. “Hindus for Trump honours contributions by millions of Americans of Hindu faith”, the campaign was quoted saying in the Economic Times.
The Democratic Party has been trying to flaunt its Hindu/Indian credentials after Indians residing in the US raised their brows on the position taken by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Kashmir and Citizenship Amendment Act 2019. The Namaste Trump and Howdy Modi rally in Ahmedabad and Houston respectively brought to centre the significance of Indian votes in US.
The US Presidential elections are scheduled for November 3 where Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris would be contesting against Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence who are seeking a second term.