‘Historic day’: Kamala Harris’ Delhi-based uncle on her selection as Biden’s running-mate

Kamala Harris became the first woman of colour as well as the first Indian-American to be chosen as a candidate for the post of Vice-President in the United States presidential elections. The decision was welcomed by people across the world, including former US President Barack Obama.

Harris, whose mother was an Indian, is proud of her roots. Back home, the relatives of the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee are happy too. Her maternal uncle in Delhi, Gopalan Balachandran, while speaking to news agency ANI said, “Our family feels happy. My sister, her mother, would have been very proud of her daughter. It is a historic day for the Indian community.”

Harris’ parents divorced when she was seven and her mother died in 2009. Speaking about her mother, Balachandran said, “My sister passed away in 2009, Kamala came here to immerse her mother’s ashes in the Bay of Bengal. I spoke to her last time when I was in the US, in October-December last year. Today I sent her a message of congratulations.”

Read: Kamala Harris: Biden’s running mate adds another feather in a career of firsts

He said that Harris could not come to India after she became a Senator two years back. Saying that she likes India, Balachandran also clarified that it did not mean she would blatantly support every decision the country made. “She is Indian and likes India but that doesn’t mean that anything India says is right for her. She is also Jamaican, an African-American, she uses her own judgement.”

“If there is anything to choose between India and somebody else, provided it is not against US interests, she will choose India. After all, she has taken oath on the US Constitution,” he added.

Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden chose California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, thereby ending all speculations regarding it. “I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked Kamala Harris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden announced in a tweet.