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Indian village proud as Trump claims victory
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Indian village proud as Trump claims victory

Vadluru: Far from Republican celebrations as Donald Trump claimed US election victory, residents of a sleepy Indian village celebrated that their descendant would be the next ‘Second Lady’, hoping to capitalize on her success.

Academic high-flyer and successful lawyer Usha Vance, the child of Indian immigrants, is the wife of Trump’s running mate JD Vance.

While 38-year-old Usha Vance was born and raised in a suburb of San Diego, those in the village of her paternal ancestors in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh prayed that historical ties would bring improvements to their country.

“We feel happy,” said Srinivasa Raju, 53, a resident of Vadluru, a village of whitewashed houses scattered among palm trees, more than 8,450 miles (13,450 kilometers) from the White House in Washington. “We support Trump.”

Villagers had prayed for a Trump victory, and Hindu priest Appaji said he hoped Usha Vance would return the favor. “We expect her to help our village,” said the 43-year-old priest, dressed in flowing saffron robes, after lighting a candle for Trump at the idol of the Hindu elephant-headed god Ganesh. “If she can recognize her roots and do something good for this town, that would be great.”

‘Very nice’

Usha Vance’s great-grandfather moved from Vadluru and her father Chilukuri Radhakrishnan – a PhD holder – grew up in the Indian city of Chennai before going to college in the United States.

“Every Indian – not just me, every Indian – we are proud of Usha because she is of Indian descent,” said 70-year-old Venkata Ramanayy. “We hope she will develop our village.”

She has never visited the village, but the priest said her father came by about three years ago to check on the condition of the temple. “We have already seen the Trump administration – very good,” Ramanayy said. “India-America relations were very good during Trump’s presidency.”

Little is known about Radhakrishnan’s early years in the United States, but the film of J.D. Vance’s memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, refers to him coming to the country with “nothing.”

Millions of Indians have made similar journeys to the Chilukuris, and according to the most recent US census, Indians have become the country’s second largest Asian ethnicity, growing 50 percent to 4.8 million in the ten years to 2020. Usha , a practicing Hindu who studied at Yale and Cambridge Universities, married JD Vance in Kentucky in 2014. They have three children.

‘Inspirational’

But the story was different about 730 kilometers (454 miles) to the southwest, in Thulasendrapuram, once home to Kamala Harris’ grandfather. TS Anbarasu, 63, said the Democrat’s “struggle” had encouraged girls to stay in school.

“She inspires this town,” he said. “Every school in the area knows Kamala Harris.” Harris, 60, was born in California but was often taken to India by her mother. “When she comes here, we will treat her like the president of the United States,” Anbarasu said. “We are still proud of her. She is like family to us. If our family members fail, we don’t discriminate against them or treat them like a loser, right?”