Washington: An Indian American, who is collecting donations for the campaign of Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s likely candidate in the US presidential election, has urged the country’s Vice President to visit her maternal home in Chennai if she is elected President in the general election. Harris (59) is the Democratic Party’s likely candidate in the US presidential election proposed in November. She officially announced her candidacy for the presidency last week after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race. However, the Democratic Party has not yet declared her as its official candidate.
Kamala’s memories are associated with Chennai
Shekhar Narasimhan, president and founder of the Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Victory Fund, said in an interview to PTI, “If she is elected, I will pressurize her and say, ‘Let’s go to India. You have to go to Chennai. You can go to Delhi. It is good to go to Delhi, but we have to go to Chennai too.” Chennai was the hometown of Harris’ mother Shyamala Gopalan, who moved to the US at the age of 16 to pursue higher education. Harris often visited Chennai during her childhood and has fond memories of the place.
There will be a grand welcome
Harris had visited the city in 2009 with her mother’s ashes and immersed them in the Indian Ocean. “I had written in one of my articles that my mother is from Chennai and her mother is also from Chennai, so I said it is my dream that she becomes the President and we go to Chennai. She will get a grand welcome there and it should be,” Narasimhan said.
