Soon after US President Donald Trump returned to Washington DC from his India visit in February, his election campaign team launched a major campaign targeted at Indian American voters, according to a report in the Politico magazine last week. “Donald Trump’s campaign has launched a five-figure digital ad buy targeting an unlikely voting demographic for Republicans: Indian Americans,” the report said. The campaign will run across social media platforms for a couple of weeks, the report added, quoting a senior Trump campaign manager.It is no surprise that the optics from the president’s visit to Ahmedabad, Agra and Delhi and his bonhomie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi will resonate with people of Indian origin in the US. However, the demographics of the ethnic desi community is complicated and multi-layered. It may be too early to conclude that there will be a huge shift of votes away from their traditional support base — the Democrats.“A large part of the community votes on domestic issues such as immigration, civil rights, income inequality and healthcare, and the India trip of President Trump may not have any impact on who they will vote for,” says Nish Acharya, CEO of Equal Innovation, a consultancy in Boston that advises companies and governments. “Traditionally, we have been Democrats because the party protects minorities. Voting patterns are likely to reflect economic changes within the community and the values of the new social media generation.”A pro-India foreign policy and domestic policies that benefit small businesses are some factors that have drawn Indian Americans towards the Trump administration, claim Republican supporters. “President Trump will make inroads with Indian Americans in 2020,” says Niraj Antani, State Representative, Ohio House of Representatives.“Appearing with Prime Minister Modi at Howdy Modi in Texas in 2019 and then going to India is certainly historic, and has been noticed by our community. His campaign is targeting Indian Americans with digital ads, which is unprecedented among Republican presidential campaigns.”The personal dynamics between Trump and Modi will galvanise a section of voters, says Puneet Ahluwalia, a lobbyist and consultant in Washington DC and a Republican supporter. “The Indian Americans following the Hindu faith are certainly more confident now and are likely to vote for President Trump and Republicans. Many of them may be swayed by the optics of the Trump-Modi friendship rather than by issues, true Republican values and principles and the US Constitutional framework,” he says.It is easier for Indian Americans, many of whom are successful and rich, to write cheques for political campaigns through political action committees. But to understand the nuances of minority issues and religious freedom and their importance in American politics is not always simple, Ahluwalia says. “Besides, Indian political issues or religious affiliations are unlikely to have any significant impact in US elections and could even prove counter-productive.”Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders has been critical of the Indian government on several occasions as have two of the Indian Americans in the US House of Representatives — Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal. Congresswoman Jayapal had moved a resolution in the Lower House of the US Congress last December urging the Indian government to lift restrictions in Kashmir and preserve religious freedom. Congressman Ro Khanna is part of the US Congressional Pakistan caucus.This anti-India posturing by some Democrats could be one of the reasons for Indian Americans to turn away from the party, says prominent Republican Sampat Shivangi, who was made a member of the mental health services’ national advisory council by Trump last year. “Traditionally, Indian immigrants have supported Democrats, but things are now changing,” says Shivangi, who is already in talks with Kimberly Guilfoyle, the head of fund-raising for the president’s re-election campaign, for a big fundraiser event in Mississippi. He hopes to raise $4-5 million.Interestingly, Super Tuesday, the most important date in the primaries for the US presidential election, also saw several Indian American candidates in the electoral fray for the California primary for the House of Representatives. Representative Ami Bera (Democrat) got the top spot in California’s 7th Congressional district, while Representative Ro Khanna (Democrat) scored the most votes in the 17th Congressional district, which covers a large part of Silicon Valley. Khanna faced Ritesh Tandon, who ran for office for the first time on a Republican ticket. In District 18, Democrat Rishi Kumar has advanced to the November general elections as has Republican Nisha Sharma, running from District 11. Both are running for office for the first time.Tandon told ET Magazine in an email interview: “My opponent is Ro Khanna, and he is the campaign co-chair of Bernie Sanders, and they keep on bashing India. Significantly, many of his big fund-raisers and supporters from the Indian American community were Democratic supporters who had backed Khanna’s campaigns earlier.”According to Tandon, Trump is seen as a president who supports merit-based immigration — which favours qualified and educated immigrants such as Indians.After the scale of the Ahmedabad rally, Trump’s campaign managers may be largely depending on the Hindu diaspora in America, especially in the swing states, to vote for Republicans. However, the diaspora’s demographic keeps changing. There has been a significant rise in the number of professionals from Andhra Pradesh moving to the US. Traditionally, the largest numbers were from Punjab. The Sikhs in the US may not necessarily be supporting the same issues as the Hindu Americans. They have, for example, been trying to deal with a rise in racist attacks on their community members.Overall, the Indian American community has been seen by American politicians as “good for money rather than votes”, says Mukesh J Mowji, a California-based investor in the hospitality industry and former chairman of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. But he adds that this is changing gradually.It is time, perhaps, for American politicians to look beyond rhetoric and deliver on promises to the Indian American electorate.