Indian Americans make their mark on first day of the Republican National Convention

Milwaukee, Jul 16 (PTI) From taking the floor to announce all-out support for Donald Trump to reciting Ardaas, Indian Americans attending in large numbers have made their mark on the first day of the high-profile Republican National Convention being held here, days after the party’s presumptive presidential candidate survived an assassination bid.

Amidst tight security, the four-day event kicked off on Monday here in the US state of Wisconsin, just two days after a gunman opened fire at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania, grazing his ear.

Indian-American politician Abraham George, elected chairman of the Texas Republican Party in May, took to the floor to announce that all the delegates from his state were voting for Trump, the former president.

Harmeet Dhillon, RNC National Committeewoman from California, recited Ardaas (an appeal to God) at the convention, which will officially nominate the 78-year-old former US president as the party’s presidential candidate in the November 5 election.

Usha Vance, née Chilukuri, wife of Ohio Senator J D Vance was also on the floor. There was a lot of excitement as Vance was announced as the running mate of Trump.

Ohio State Senator Niraj Atani and Dr Sampat Shivangi were the other two Indian Americans on the floor as the delegates.

“This is a historic convention,” Dr Shivangi told PTI. “The entire party is now united and standing together with Trump,” said Dr Shivangi who has attended six conventions so far.

“As a son of immigrants, we must elect a president to restore the American values that my family crossed an ocean for. I believe the candidate to do that is Trump. I’m extremely honoured to be able to serve as a delegate in support of President Trump,” Antani said.

“Republicans across the country are more united than ever in support of President Trump. I was incredibly proud to have voted for him today to be our party’s nominee. Now, together as Republicans, we seek to unite the country under President Trump’s leadership, to defend the American Dream that has become out of reach for so many Americans in the past few years,” he said.

Trump’s confidant Kash Patel, Indian-American Kush Desai, who is the Deputy Communications Director for the 2024 Republican National Convention, Sunny Reddy, a candidate for the Wayne State University Board of Governors of Michigan along with Sam Matthew, are also attending the convention.

Indian-American Attorney Hardam Tripathi is attending the Republican National Convention as an Alternate Delegate from Florida and so are Hima Kolanagireddy, RNC National Committeewoman-elect from Michigan and Adi Sathi, Republican Strategist & Public Policy Professional.

Entrepreneur-turned-politician Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, the two Indian-origin politicians who contested and lost the race to Trump during the primaries, are scheduled to address the convention.

About 2,400 delegates from across the US are here to officially nominate Trump during a roll call vote which was held on Monday. It was a mere formality since he clinched the nomination in March, garnering the 1,215 delegates needed to become the presumptive nominee.

The vote is considered a formality because Trump earned 2,243 delegates by the end of the primary process, according to an estimate by CBS News.

Trump is expected to officially accept the nomination for the third time since 2016 in a speech on Thursday night.