Washington, August 12: In a historic move that marks a breakthrough for Indian Americans in the United States politics, Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday selected Kamala Devi Harris as the nominee for vice president. The 55-year-old Kamala Harris is the first non-White candidate for the vice president’s post and the third woman from a major party. Biden's VP Pick Kamala Harris Has Deep Indian Roots.

Making the announcement, Biden took to Twitter saying, "I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden tweeted. In a text message to supporters, Biden said, “Together, with you, we’re going to beat Trump."

Tweet by Joe Biden:

She was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California,. Harris is a daughter Indian mother from Chennai, Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher from India, and Donald Harris, an African Jamaican economics professor. Her grandfather P V Gopalan was an Indian freedom-fighter, who became a civil servant and was assigned by the Indian government to help Zambia deal with its refugee problem in the late 1960s. Kamala Harris is a senator from California. Senator Kamala Harris, African-American of Indian & Asian Descent, Nominated as US Vice-Presidential Candidate, Twitterati Lauds the Historic Decision by Democrat Joe Biden.

In November 2016, she defeated Loretta Sanchez in the Senate election to succeed outgoing Senator Barbara Boxer. She is California's third female senator, the second African-American woman and the first South Asian–American to serve in the United States Senate. Harris also ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election. But she ended her campaign on December 3, 2019, citing a lack of funds to continue. Harris is married to Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer, and a step-mother to his two children from his previous marriage.

Meanwhile, Biden was leading US President Donald Trump in the two battleground states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which the latter had won in the 2016 President election, a new poll showed. Earlier this month, White House officials have confirmed that the upcoming US presidential election will be held as planned on November 3 after President Donald Trump raised the possibility of delaying it.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 12, 2020 11:14 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).