The Samosa Caucus: These Indian-Americans won big at the US Elections

4-Nov-2020

It is a great election night for the Samosa Caucus - a name used to refer to Indian-American lawmakers who are either part of the US Congress or Senate. All four Indian American Democratic lawmakers part of the Caucus have been re-elected. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Dr Ami Bera have all won comfortably. While Krishnamoorthi got 70 per cent of the votes, Pramila won by an 84 per cent margin, Ro Khanna polled 63 per cent of the votes and DR Ami Bera 62 per cent. The fifth member of the Caucus is VP nominee Kamala Harris, whose fate will hinge on the outcome of the nail-biting fight between Trump and Biden. Among the others who are contesting, Hiral Tipirneni is currently leading and will become the second Indian-American woman to make it to Congress after Jayapal, if elected. While Sara Gideon is trailing, others such as Rik Mehta, Sri Preston Kulkarni and Manga Anantatmula lost out. There are 1.9 million Indian Americans eligible to vote but the number is growing. Every year, approximately 1.5 lakh Indian Americans will become eligible to vote, a trend that might lead to a larger representation of desi voices in the US Congress and Senate.