It is a special day for vice-president elect Kamala Harris and her family back in India, but ahead of the inauguration ceremony, her maternal uncle said that he is not attending it. The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked concerns and he believes the risk is not worth taking since it will only draw unwanted media attention.
“Amid the ongoing pandemic and the vaccination drive, the trouble is not worth taking. It doesn’t look good that I land in Washington, contract COVID-19 and attract unnecessary media attention,” said Balachandran on his decision to not attend the inauguration ceremony in person. On being asked about any message he would like to convey to his niece, Gopalan Balachandran told ANI news agency.
“There’s no message I can give. I didn’t help her become the Vice President. She did it all on her own. All that I’ll tell her is ‘do whatever Shyamala (Kamala Harris’ mother) taught you. You’ve been doing fine so far. Keep it up.’ That’s all I can say.” Said her uncle without taking credit for Harris’s victory.
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Refraining from giving political advice to Harris ahead of her oath-taking, Balachandran said, “There are already a lot of problems. There is no point in giving political advice from India. I will convey my concerns to her once I meet her in the US.”
Kamala Harris is making history as she is set to become the first woman of colour, Indian-American, and first Asian American to occupy the second-highest US office.
The inauguration ceremony of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is scheduled to take place at the US Capitol in Washington on January 20th.