US elections 2024: Soon-to-be Second Lady Usha Vance's Indian village ‘expects her help’ after Donald Trump's victory

As the election frenzy in the United States ends with Republicans rejoicing Donald Trump's victory, a small village in India is holding its own quaint celebration for one of their descendants, who will now become the ‘Second Lady’ of America.

This small village is the ancestral hometown of Usha Vance, wife of US Vice President-elect JD Vance.

Academic highflyer and successful lawyer Usha Vance, the child of Indian immigrants, is set to become the ‘Second Lady’ of the US after Donald Trump claimed victory in the US elections, and officially announced JD Vance to be the Vice President-elect of the country.

While 38-year-old Usha Vance was born and brought up in suburban San Diego, those in the village of her paternal ancestors in Andhra Pradesh prayed that historic ties would bring improvements to their land.

The residents of Vadluru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, beamed with pride after Trump won the popular vote. Despite being more than 13,450 kilometers away from the White House, the residents proudly echoed, “We support Trump.”

Hindu priest Appaji, who had held prayers in the village hoping for a Trump-Vance victory, said, “We expect her to help our village. If she can recognise her roots and do something good for this village, then that would be great.”

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Usha Vance's great-grandfather moved out of Vadluru and her father Chilukuri Radhakrishnan - a PhD holder - was brought up in Chennai, before going on to study in the United States.

Little is known about Radhakrishnan's initial years in the United States, but the film of J.D. Vance's memoirs, Hillbilly Elegy, refers to him coming to the country with "nothing".

While Usha Vance has never personally visited the village, the priest said that her father came to visit the place around three years ago to check on the temple's conditions.

Usha, a practicing Hindu who studied at Yale and Cambridge Universities, married J.D. Vance in Kentucky in 2014. They have three children.

(With inputs from AFP)

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