For the first time in the US elections, the Indian Americans who traditionally vote Democrat are divided in their choices, especially when it comes to some Indian American candidates. There is a groundswell of support that Kamala Harris has generated by being on the Democrat ticket. However that is not the case for some other Indian-American candidates who are facing backlash from a large section of Indian American voters in their constituencies.

With Democrat Presidential candidate JoeBiden’s selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate, there is a renewed interest in Indian Americans and the role they play in the US. This minority group has been seen as a model immigrant group for its high achieving professionals; Google’s Pichai and Microsoft’s Nadella being some of the big names.

The Indian voters have been mostly voting Democrat, part of the reason is the perception that President Trumps’ Republican Party is not immigrant friendly. With about 1.9 million voters, Indian American voter are not a major presence in terms of actual numbers but could make a dent in some key ballots.     

The other dynamic that has been evolving is the presence of several Indian-Americans contesting the elections in US mostly on a Democrat ticket. Though the Indian American vote has been mostly favored those candidates, this time around there is a major polarization among Democrats due to alleged involvement of RSS/BJP sponsorship of some of the candidates.

Journalist and author of recently published book, “Saffron Fascists” Pieter Friedrich, has been instrumental in bringing out this alleged nexus between some Indian American politicians and RSS/BJP. 

A presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard who faced such foreign funding allegations lost the Democratic primary elections recently.

This foreign funding concern is most visible in Houston, where Sri Preston Kulkarni, nephew of Pramod Mahajan, is facing allegations of RSS/BJP funding is pitted against Troy Nehls, the Sheriff of Fort Bend County, for Texas Congressional District 22. Fort Bend county is the most diverse county in the US, with over 100+ languages spoken in this county.

Nag Jayarman, a Katy based voter, has some strong viewpoints on the issue. Diversity and social harmony is what influenced me to call Houston my home. We need to protect this space from extremist, divisive forces and that makes Nehls and easy choice for me. I cannot let RSS appropriate Hindu American identity to promote their agenda.

Aasim, a young oil and gas professional voter from Houston is breaking ranks with Democrats and supporting the Republican candidate locally. His decision is influenced by the plight of Kashmiris and the impact that electing the Indian American Democrat candidate could have on foreign policy decisions related to Kashmir.

Dr. Saji Salam a management consultant based out of Houston, agrees that he is seeing a serious division among Indian Americans in Houston; many of whom are voting for a Republican candidate for the first time. There is a concern that many of these Democrats voting for a Republican candidate may stay with the Republican Party in the future.  

The Democratic Party has taken note of this trend and other leading Indian American politicians such as Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna, have started to voice concerns.

Ms. Jayapal had introduced a resolution, co-sponsored by Republican Steve Watkins that urges India to lift the communication clampdown, release political detainees and "preserve religious freedom for all residents" in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a recent interview Troy Nehls, the Republican candidate stated “We celebrate religious freedom, it is protected in our Constitution. In Fort Bend County, we have temples, mosques, churches and synagogues. All these different groups of people from the world can come together and live in harmony’.  https://vimeo.com/469954307

“When I go to Washington as your Congressman, I want to take this message of diversity in Fort Bend County and encourage other people to learn from the example of Fort Bend county”, Sheriff Nehls  added.

Interesting enough, Rohit Khanna, Democratic Congressman from California echoes this way and had tweeted recently, “It’s the duty of every American politician of Hindu faith to stand for pluralism, reject Hindutva, and speak for equal rights for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Buddhist & Christians”.