Trump, Biden's Indian-American supporters intensify their campaign
Washington: With less than 50 hours to go for the US presidential elections, Indian-American supporters of both President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden on Sunday intensified their campaigns, particularly in battleground states, asking the community members to get out and vote and support their respective leaders.
Trump, a Republican, is seeking re-election to the White House in the November 3 presidential polls. He is challenged by Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
Unlike in the previous years, the campaigning among Indian Americans have this time restricted their campaigns to mainly the digital domain and phone banking due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both the campaigns have planned to intensify their phone calls to Indian-American supporters, send them messages on WhatsApp, and reach out to them through other social media and emails.
Indian-American supporters of President Trump's campaign organized a couple of events for the community including a fire chat conducted by Indian Voices for Trump with Nikki Haley, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations.
President's two sons Donald J Trump Jr and Eric Trump engaged with the community respectively at a meet and greet event in New York and Atlanta in Georgia.
Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump paid floral tributes to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi along with members of the Sikhs for Trump and India Voices for Trump.
The Biden Campaign outreach has been mainly in the virtual domain. Former vice president Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris organized a special India Independence Day event for Indian Americans.
Biden and Harris have greeted Indian Americans on the occasion of various festivals including the recently concluded Navaratri.
Biden also wrote an op-ed in the ethnic India West newspaper, asserting the strong relationship that he has with the community and his strong ties with India.
At least two recent surveys indicated that the majority of Indian Americans support Biden. But they also indicated that the support base of Indian Americans for the Democrats has shrunk a little bit and have started moving towards the Trump campaign.
Another survey conducted by Al Mason, from the Trump Campaign, claimed that in battleground States at least 50 percent of the Indian Americans who voted for the Democrats in 2016 will vote for Trump this election cycle.
Engaged in outreach with messaging - to Indian American Voters in the battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, and Wisconsin, Sridhar Chityala, who is on the advisory board of Indian Voices for Trump Coalition, said that his campaign activities are very different from the Democratic party-perfect messaging structured with public views - not political or personal views -which resonates.
How else do you see 30 Million impressions thus far on the video four 4 More years -plus grass root-level contributions, he said, referring to a Modi-Trump video that was released by Donald J Trump Jr and Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top campaign official, during the Republican Convention in August.
Neha Dewan, national director for South Asians for Biden, said former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris have made unprecedented efforts to reach out to the South Asian community this election and earn our votes.
Ajay Bhutoria, who flew from California to Philadelphia to attend the launch of Biden's presidential campaign almost 18 months ago, said that Biden and Harris understand the South Asian community best and they will be the best friend for India and Indian Americans.
India-US relationship has never been so good as under President Trump and his administration, said Al Mason from the Trump Campaign. It is under his administration that for the first time ever we had a cabinet ranking Indian American, he said.
He (Trump) is a reliable friend to India, said eminent community leader Sudhir Parikh.
Community leaders from both the campaigns said that a large number of people are working round the clock through phone banking or through other digital mediums to reach out to the community.
While Indian Americans have raised millions for both the campaigns and a number of them have campaigned aggressively for both of them, the actual voting percentage for the community is far below the national average.
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West Asia conflict: More than 700 travellers from MP stranded in UAE
Indore (PTI): More than 700 people from Madhya Pradesh, including two former MLAs, are stranded in the United Arab Emirates due to flight cancellations amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, an office-bearer of a travel agents' outfit said on Sunday.
Several people from the state had travelled to the UAE for tourism and business purposes, and the crisis in the region had left them stranded, Amol Kataria, chairman of the Travel Agents Federation of India's MP unit, told PTI.
Many travellers from the state had cancelled their upcoming trips to Dubai and Sharjah, he added.
ALSO READ: Delhi airport: 100 int'l flights cancelled amid Middle East conflict
Kataria said that more than 700 people were stuck in the UAE, and among them, former MLA and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sanjay Shukla is in Dubai.
"Due to the current international situation, our return to India today could not take place as Dubai airport was temporarily closed. We are receiving full cooperation from the Dubai administration and the Government of India. We will return to Indore as soon as the situation normalises," Shukla's post on social media stated.
Talking to PTI, the former Indore legislator's son, Sagar, said that his father had gone to Dubai three days ago with former Depalpur MLA Vishal Patel and some industrialist friends, and was scheduled to return to Indore on Sunday.
He said he had spoken to his father over the phone and heard explosions during the conversation, following which his father and his friends moved to a safe location.
He expressed hope that his father and his friends would return home soon with the efforts of the Indian government.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari, in a social media post, claimed that over 100 citizens from the state were stranded at Dubai and Sharjah airports.
Women, children and families had been facing inconvenience for several hours, and anxiety had increased after flight cancellations, he said.
Patwari urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene immediately and ensure the safety of all Indians stranded in the UAE, while making arrangements for their early return home.
The United States and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed early on Sunday.
Hundreds of flights have been disrupted across West Asia and in other countries, including India, due to airspace restrictions following the joint attack and retaliatory action by Iran.
