Some residents of the tiny Indian village of Vadluru are celebrating after Donald Trump won his second presidency. That’s because the soon-to-be Vice President JD Vance is married to Indian American Usha Chilukuri Vance, whose grandparents hail from the village.
Chilukuri Vance, 38, is a Yale law graduate and trial lawyer who was raised in San Diego by her Indian immigrant parents. Her mother is a biologist and provost at the University of California at San Diego; her father is an engineer. She and JD Vance met at Yale and married soon after graduating.
“We’re very proud that a woman from our village is in the limelight,” says Raghumanda Srinu, a 43-year-old member of the village council. He says villagers were praying for Trump’s victory.
Another resident, who goes by the name P Trimurthulu, a 60-year-old artist, hopes the spotlight on the village might lead to more development. But he concedes, “that might not be possible, as Usha Vance is in the United States.”
Chilukuri Vance is not known to have visited Vadluru, a place her family left for better fortunes more than five decades ago — indeed, one woman reached by NPR asked: “Usha who?”
Still, local media report Vance’s parents had donated money to build a Hindu temple in the village, which is located in the southern coastal state of Andhra Pradesh.
The celebrations are in stark contrast to another tiny village in southern India, Thulasendrapuram in the state of Tamil Nadu, the ancestral village of Kamala Harris’ maternal grandfather. Villagers had posted up Harris’ picture and hoisted banners in the streets, praying for her victory. After the loss became clear, one resident told NPR: “She’ll always be our president.”
More broadly, what the two villages highlight is the growing prominence of Indian Americans in U.S. politics, nearly reaching the highest possible political position.
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