2 weeks ago
As Donald Trump won the 2024 US Presidential election, the Vice President-elect JD Vance holds a special place in India because of his wife, Usha.
Upon Trump’s victory, Usha’s great aunt Shantamma, expressed her joy and pride. “It’s a happy moment for the family as she belongs to our genes,” the nonagenarian said, adding, “Because she belongs to my family, I feel more happy."
When asked if she had any message for Usha and the Trump-Vance duo, she said that they must “start thinking about other countries” and that when it comes to India, they should do some “positively good things” for the country.
She said she knows about JD through the interviews she has seen of them and knows that JD values Usha’s opinions and is happy that he consults his wife as they are both lawyers.
Shantamma is related to Usha through marriage. Usha’s father is the youngest son of Shantamma’s husband’s brother.
Shantamma also said that as the wife of the Vice President of the United States, she said that the Trump administration should do something to help bring back to India those who go abroad. According to her, there should be laws that would allow them to come back to their native countries.
“I want to see that India gets its intelligentsia back. All of (India’s) intelligentsia has been driven out... Now let us see that some rules are framed so that such intelligentsia is not filtered out of India.
India should have its own beauty, its intelligence... There are great scholars in India,” she said.
She also said that the “divine culture” of Sanskrit was the way to move forward. “It is Sanskrit which can bring it back. Nothing else,” she said, adding: “Make people understand Sanskrit as it has a lot of importance and impact. We can see that in the ancient temples (here)."
Usha Vance is the first Indian American and first Hindu-practising person to serve as Second Lady. Usha has Telugu roots as her parents moved to the US from undivided Andhra Pradesh in the early 1980s, making her a first-generation Indian American.
When Trump’s victory was announced, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had posted a congratulatory message on X for JD and Usha Vance.
Published On:
Nov 7, 2024
