Villagers watch results of US elections on a television in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
PETALING JAYA: There were conflicting emotions at two tiny villages in rural India that had skin in the game in the 2024 US election.
AFP reported that it was joy and celebration for the villagers of Vadluru, who celebrated that their descendant would be the next "Second Lady", hoping to benefit from her success.
Academic highflyer and successful lawyer Usha Vance, the child of Indian immigrants, is the wife of Trump's running mate J.D. Vance.
While 38-year-old Usha Vance was born and brought up in suburban San Diego, those in the village of her paternal ancestors in India's southern Andhra Pradesh state prayed that historic ties would bring improvements to their land.
"We feel happy," said Srinivasa Raju, 53, a resident of Vadluru, a village of white-washed homes scattered amongst palm trees, more than 13,450 (8,360 miles) from the White House in Washington. "We support Trump."
Villagers had offered prayers for a Trump win, and Hindu priest Appaji said he hoped Usha Vance would do something in return.
"We expect her to help our village," the 43-year-old priest said, dressed in flowing saffron robes, after lighting a candle at the idol of Hindu elephant-headed deity Ganesh for Trump.
"If she can recognise her roots and do something good for this village, then that would be great."
'Very fine'
Usha Vance's great-grandfather moved out of Vadluru and her father Chilukuri Radhakrishnan, a PhD holder, was brought up in the Indian city of Chennai, before going on to study in the United States.
"Every Indian, not just myself, every Indian, we feel proud of Usha, because she is of Indian origin," said 70-year-old Venkata Ramanayy.
"We hope she will develop our village."
She has never visited the village, but the priest said her father came around three years ago and checked on the temple's condition.
"We have already seen the governance of Trump -- very good," Ramanayy said.
"Indian and American relations were very fine during the presidency of Trump."
Little is known about Radhakrishnan's initial years in the United States, but the film of J.D. Vance's memoirs, Hillbilly Elegy, refers to him coming to the country with "nothing".
Millions of Indians have made similar journeys as the Chilukuris, and according to the most recent US census, Indians have become the country's second-largest Asian ethnicity, growing 50 per cent to 4.8 million in the decade to 2020.
Usha, a practising Hindu who studied at Yale and Cambridge Universities, married J.D. Vance in Kentucky in 2014. They have three children.
Faded enthusiasm
However the mood quite the opposite around 730km (454 miles) to the southwest, as disappointment hung in the air in Thulasendrapuram, a tiny village in southern India, where Kamala Harris’ mother’s family has ancestral ties and where people were rooting for the Democratic nominee for president.
According to AP, residents in this village, who were keenly following the election results on their smartphones, were left silent as initial enthusiasm faded, even before the presidential race call, but many said they were proud that she put up a good fight.
The villagers were hoping for a Harris victory and had Tuesday held special Hindu prayers for her at a local temple where Harris’ name is engraved in a list of donors. Some were also planning to blast off fireworks and distribute sweets had she won.
“We are sad about it. But what can we do? It was in the hands of the voters of that country. They made Trump win. We can only wish Trump well for his victory,” said J. Sudhakar.
As results became clearer, a gaggle of reporters that was stationed outside the village temple also quickly scattered away. The village — site of a brief media spectacle and euphoria since Tuesday — became almost deserted.
Silver lining
But there was a silver lining as T.S. Anbarasu, 63, told AFP that Kamala's "struggle" had encouraged girls to stay in school.
"She is inspiring this village," he said. "Any school in the surrounding area, students know about Kamala Harris."
Harris, 60, was born in California but was often taken to India by her mother.
"If she comes here, we'll treat her like the president of the United States," Anbarasu said.
"We are still proud of her. She is like family to us. If our family members fail, we don't discriminate against them, or treat them as a loser, right?"
