With the nomination of Democrat Senator Kamala Harris as running partner to Joe Biden’s bid for US Presidentship, it looks like the samosa caucus (a term that denotes politicians of Indian origin in the US) is gaining momentum worldwide.
Four other Democrats in the Senate of South Asian heritage in the US have joined Indian born Republican Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal on the forefront of American politics. The numbers might swell after the upcoming elections in November, with a number of South Asians being nominated in key areas.
Globally, Indians have emerged gloriously in the politics of their adopted countries.
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In Canada, PM Justin Trudeau’s administration includes four ministers of Indian origin. Ireland’s former Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is of mixed Indian and Irish heritage, Rishi Sunak who is Britain’s Chancellor of Exchequer is the son of Punjabi migrants. Priti Patel currently serving as Britain’s home secretary is the daughter of Gujarati migrants.
Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa is of Goan descent and former Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth have both been conferred with the highest honour by the Indian govt, the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman award.
These are some fine examples of top politicians in some of the most powerful countries in the world with Indian blood running in their veins. In these particular cases, South Asian politicians are active on both sides of politics, left as well as right.
In Australia, we’ve only have had limited progress regarding Indian-origin politicians at high ranking positions: other than Senator Lisa Singh, very few have been able to break through.
Hopefully, it’s only a matter of time. As Indian migrants are well informed, well educated, and harbour that community spirit to serve and lead, especially as they settle into the country.
Whether Kamala Harris will succeed in taking the second-highest office in the United States of America, one will know in about 80 days. But whatever the result, she will remain an inspiration to many aspiring samosa politicians globally.
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