(RNS) — As Hindu American participation in politics has increased over the past decade, its political affiliations have begun to shift.
(RNS) — Utsav Sanduja, born in Canada 34 years ago, has long admired the global power the United States wields, and couldn’t wait to become an American citizen. Not long after immigrating 14 years ago, he filed a lawsuit over what he judged an unreasonable delay in his visa application.
This November, his citizenship secured, Sanduja will be voting in his first U.S. presidential election. “Once you’re a citizen, my God, you just want to do everything in your power to be able to exercise your constitutional liberty,” he told RNS. “It’s not just an American election, it’s an election across the planet, really, and it’s just too critical to not get involved.”
Sanduja is more involved than most new voters. Earlier this month he launched the Hindus for America First PAC, intended to provide a “safe space” for Hindus, like him, who no longer feel the Democratic Party has Hindu interests at heart and plan to vote for Donald Trump.