Arizona (US): Arizona, a state in the South West America is best remembered for the Grand Canyon, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The state borders Mexico and has traditionally a Republican stronghold. It voted for a Democratic President only twice in the past, the last one being in 1996 for Bill Clinton.
But recent polls from the desert state suggested a neck to neck fight between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Hillary in her only visit to Arizona since primaries, managed to draw a house full audience of more than ten thousand at the Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Arizona on Wednesday.
Indians constitute the second largest group of foreign students at the University after the Chinese. Many Indian students waited in a queue for more than an hour and half to get in Hillary’s speech venue. Madhu Illuri, a Computer Engineering student from Andhra Pradesh, was confident that the state will turn blue this time. She says, “In the past, Republicans have won in Arizona, but people will vote for Hillary this time as she is better of the two candidates.”
Priyansh Gupta, an electrical engineering student from Bangalore said that Trump’s video supporting Indians is a marketing gimmick. “He is desperate to get Indian votes.” Shaktivel, a computer engineering student from Tamil Nadu, is quick to point out “Even for saying one line - Ab ki baar, Trump ki Sarkar, Trump took two cuts. It’s nothing more than a political stunt.”
Many students support Hillary because they fear Trump’s anti-immigration policies. Divya, a Master’s student in Computer Science, said, “Discriminating people from other countries is not good. We are stronger together. I like Hillary because she supports immigration and students”. Her colleague Shaktivel, however, quickly dispelled fears that Trump can deport Indians. Quoting Bill Gates, he said, “If you don’t hire Indian students in Microsoft, within ten years, you will have five Microsoft in India.”
Sushil Rajgopalan, a Ph.D student in sustainability who from Mumbai, feared that Trump will reverse the gains of Climate climate change agreements. He said, “Trump is a big denier of Climate Change. He thinks it is a 'hoax'. If Trump is elected, there is a strong probability that he will refuse the Paris climate change agreement.”
Sarvesh Kulkarni, Master’s student from Maharashtra supports Hillary Clinton. He said, “Hillary had good relations with India as the US Secretary of State. She has also promised more green cards to International students if voted to power.”
Comments
0 comment