As the US presidential election is underway, former Indian Ambassador to the US, Arun Kumar Singh, shared his thoughts on the 2024 polls, saying that only 60 percent of the Indian Americans are likely to vote for Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Speaking to news agency ANI on Tuesday, the India envoy said: "Each election, of course, is unique, but I would say that to some extent, there's a similarity to the kind of campaign that was there in 2016 and in 2020, when earlier also President Trump was a candidate, because he defined the issues in a certain way, trying to highlight as if America was not doing well, other countries had exported America, Americans were being exported by immigrants."
"So he was painting all the negative dimensions of what was happening in the US, trying to project that he was not a part of the establishment, although he's a very successful businessman himself, and therefore people should vote for him," he added.
'Groups Expected To Support Harris Not Doing So'
Singh further spoke about Harris's historic candidacy as the first African American and Indian American woman to participate in the presidential race. However, he said tha several pre-poll surveys revealed unexpected trends, suggesting that many groups that were expected to support her were not doing so.
"According to pre-poll surveys, the majority of African American males were not supporting her. The majority of Latino males did not support her. And if you look at the Indian American vote, again, according to pre-poll surveys, 80% had voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and about 70% had voted for Joe Biden in 2020. But this year, the expectation was that only 60% of Indian Americans would vote for her, although she is a person partially of the same ethnic origin." Singh said.
"So these were some of the trends that were to be, were unexpected, but they were there. And I think this was a reflection of the fact that for the voting public, among the issues that were prominent were the issues related to the economy, inflation, jobs, where there was a sense that they were not doing well," he added.
'Americans Felt Nation Not Headed In Right Direction'
The ex- Indian envoy stated that various pre-poll services suggested a majority of Americans felt the country was proceeding in the wrong direction, which would have a negative impact on the Biden-Harris administration and Harris's candidacy.
"And again, many pre-poll services suggested that a large bulk of Americans felt that the country was not heading in the right direction. And therefore, if they felt that, then obviously they would take that, hold that against the current administration, the Biden-Harris administration, and then Kamala Harris naturally suffered as a result of that," Singh said.
Singh's comments came as the US election are headed towards its climax, with Harris facing a tough competition from former President Donald Trump. The election outcomes remain uncertain, with key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina still up for grabs.
The first polls will close at 7 PM ET (5:30 AM IST) in six states, including Georgia. Following this, the final polls will close in Hawaii and in Alaska at 12 AM ET (10:30 am IST). The counting will begin after total votes close by 1 PM ET (11:30 am IST).