"Bharat and US Sabse Achhe Dost", Trump's new Hindi slogan
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Washington: After "Ab ki bar, Trump Sarkar" in 2016, former United States President Donald Trump is back with a new slogan, "Bharat and US Sabse Achhe Dost (India and US are best friends)", IANS reported.
The catchphrase was recorded for Shalabh Kumar, a Republican donor and strategist, who was also behind "Ab ki bar, Trump Sarkar", inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll slogan "Ab ki bar, Modi sarkar".
Kumar claimed that Trump, who doesn't speak Hindi at all, recorded the new slogan pretty quickly, just in three takes.
Kumar said, "We will use the slogan in the upcoming midterm elections in November,"
IANS reports that the slogan aims to mobilise Indian/Hindu American voters in support of Republicans, particularly some key candidates endorsed by the former President - JD Vance in Ohio, Herschel Walker in Georgia, Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, and Ron Johnson in Wisconsin.
In the US, Indian American voters have become a crucial vote bank, particularly in swing states, where poll outcomes turn on thin margins. According to a 2020 report by US think-tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "In select swing states, the Indian American population is larger than the margin of victory that separated (Democratic Presidential nominee) Hillary Clinton and Trump in the closely-contested 2016 Presidential race".
The Indian American community has grown to more than four million -- said to be slightly more than one per cent of the total population -- but registered voters among them are less than the total registered voters, which stood at 160 million in 2020. They are located all over the country -- the largest concentrations are in California, Texas, New Jersey, New York and Illinois.
But they matter more in swing states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia and, now, Georgia and Arizona, where their numbers, though smaller, are more than the margins of victory or defeat -- Biden had won Wisconsin by 20,000 votes (Trump had won the state by 22,000 in 2016), Pennsylvania by 80,000 votes (Trump won it by 50,000 in 2016), and Georgia by 12,000 votes (Trump had won it by 2,11,141 votes in 2016).
Both the Democratic and Republican parties now woo Indian Americans aggressively. Kumar said Trump's slogan would feature in an ad that will play on TV channels viewed mostly by Indian Americans, starting in October when candidates will be in the last month of campaigning for the US House of Representatives and Senate (a third of the 100 seats) and state-wide officials such as governors and state legislatures.
