Joe Biden campaign’s outreach launched in 14 Indian languages

PTI, Jul 31, 2020, 10:29 AM IST

Washington: Joe Biden’s campaign on Thursday, July 30 announced the launch of its outreach to the influential Indian-Americans in 14 languages, reflecting the linguistic diversity of an ethnic community, which is being sought after by both Democratic and Republican Party in the key battleground states.

For instance, “America Ka Neta Kaisa Ho, Jo Biden Jaisa Ho,” (America’s leader needs to be like Biden) has been picked from a popular electioneering slogan from the world’s largest democracy.

Opposition Democratic Party’s election slogan in 14 Indian languages comes four years after the phenomenal success of Trump campaign’s election slogan in 2016, “Ab Ki Trump Sarkar” (This time, Trump government), on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 election catch-line “Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkaar”.

Ajay Bhutoria, the national finance committee member for Biden for President 2020, said the campaign is planning to reach out to the Indian-American voters in their own languages.

Currently, he is collaborating with the Biden Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Team to communicate directly with Indian-Americans in more than 14 languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Urdu, Kannada, Malayalee, Oriya, Marathi and Nepali.

Bhutoria, in a statement, acknowledged that this is influenced by his upbringing in India, wherein elections are community celebrations, with catchy slogans and rallies featuring Bollywood music on loudspeakers.

The slogan, “America Ka Neta Kaisa Ho Joe Biden Jaisa Ho” has been created to generate similar enthusiasm among Indian-American voters in the country. The presidential elections are scheduled for November 3. Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, is challenging Republican incumbent President Donald Trump.

Bhutoria hoped that his digital outreach will motivate more Indian-Americans to become engaged in politics, register to vote, and cast their ballots for former vice president Biden this November.

“The Biden campaign felt that there was a need to create campaign graphics in regional Indian languages so that our diverse community feels even more connected to Joe Biden,” said Neha Dewan, national director, South Asians for Biden.

“As vice president, Biden often reminds us that immigrants are a core chapter of the American story. ‘Our country’s ability to draw hard-working people from every culture and every nation has always made us stronger’,” she said.