NEW DELHI:
US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris
has added several firsts to her name after
Joe Biden won the presidential race on Saturday evening defeating incumbent president Donald Trump.
She is the first female, first Black, first Indian-American and first Asian vice president-elect of the US.
Harris was picked by Joe Biden as his running mate in August, months after she suspended her own presidential dreams, saying she lacked the financial resources to continue her campaign. She was only the third woman vice presidential nominee to be selected on a major party ticket. Then-Alaska governor Sarah Palin in 2008 and New York representative Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 were the other two.
First woman, Black, Indian-American, Asian vice president-electThe 56-year-old California senator is one of only three Asian Americans in the Senate and she's the first Indian-American ever to serve in the chamber.
Before becoming the vice president-elect, Harris is known for many firsts. She has been a county district attorney; the district attorney for San Francisco — the first woman and first African-American and Indian-origin to be elected to the position.
PM Modi congratulates Kamla Harris, says 'your success is pathbreaking'PM Modi tweeted congratulations to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, saying "Your success is pathbreaking, and a matter of immense pride not just for your chittis, but also for all Indian-Americans." Chittis is the word for “aunts” in Tamil.
'The female Barack Obama'A decade ago, journalist Gwen Ifill called Harris "the female Barack Obama" on the "Late Show With David Letterman". Later, a small businessman from Willoughby Tony Pinto called her "a young, female version of the president".
She is considered to be close to Barack Obama, the first black American President, who endorsed her in her various elections including that of the US Senate in 2016.
Harris was born to two immigrant parents: a Black father and an Indian mother. Her father, Donald Harris, was from Jamaica, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher and civil rights activist from Chennai. She, however, defines herself simply as ‘American'.
Mother's strong influence in her lifeAfter her parents divorced, Harris was raised primarily by her single mother. She says that her mother adopted black culture and immersed her two daughters - Kamala and her younger sister Maya - in it. Harris grew up embracing her Indian culture, but living a proudly African American life. She often joined her mother on visits to India.
"My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters," she wrote in her autobiography 'The Truths We Hold'. "She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women."
Harris was born in Oakland and grew up in Berkeley. She spent her high school years living in French-speaking Canada — her mother was teaching at McGill University in Montreal.
Her mother told her growing up, "Don't sit around and complain about things, do something," which is what drives Kamala every single day, according to the Biden-Harris joint campaign website.
She attended college in the US, spending four years at Howard University, which she has described as among the most formative experiences of her life.
'Momala'Harris is married to attorney Douglas Emhoff, who has been a fixture on the campaign trail. His two children from a previous marriage refer to their stepmother as “Momala.”
Started her career as a lawyerAfter Howard, she went on to earn her law degree at the University of California, Hastings, and began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
She became the top prosecutor for San Francisco in 2003, before being elected the first woman and the first black person to serve as California's attorney general in 2010, the top lawyer in America's most populous state.
In her nearly two terms in office as attorney general, Harris gained a reputation as one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party. She was elected as California's junior US senator in 2017.
Harris has been married to her husband Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer, for the past six years. She is the stepmother of two children, Ella and Cole.
"Harris knows the Black American experience. She knows the South Asian-American experience. She knows the immigrant experience. She knows the aspirational power of the American dream. She is the running mate for this moment,” wrote Neil Makhija, executive director of IMPACT, in an op-ed published by CNN during the presidential campaign.
'Let's get started,' says VP-elect Harris after historic winUS Vice-President-elect
Kamala Harris called on Americans to "get started" with the work ahead after networks projected that Democrat Joe Biden, her running mate, defeated Republican incumbent Donald Trump.
"This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It's about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it," tweeted Harris, a US senator from California and the first woman of color to be elected to the vice presidency.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let's get started."
Kamala Harris says voters ushered in 'new day for America'
Indian-American, South-Asian political, diaspora hails Biden-Harris winIndian-American and South-Asian political, diaspora organisations hailed the "hard-fought victory" of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, describing it as "truly a remarkable win for the future of America" and that Harris' political rise will "supercharge the political engagement of the Indian American community."
South Asians for Biden (SAB), a national grassroot, political organisation, said it is elated to celebrate the hard-fought victory earned by Biden and Harris in this election.
“This is truly a remarkable win for the future of America, our democracy, and the entire South Asian community. That the Biden-Harris ticket unseated an incumbent president is a historic feat and represents a convincing repudiation of President Trump and his abhorrent world view," national director, SAB, Neha Dewan said.
(With inputs from agencies)