Kamala Harris is a fighter, she will make a comeback, say people of her ancestral village in TN

CHENNAI: Although Kamala Harris has been defeated by Donald Trump in the US presidential election, she will make a comeback as she is a fighter, said residents of Thulasendrapuram, the village of her maternal ancestors, on Wednesday.

Since morning, locals were glued to television screens, monitoring election results, and many checked trends on media websites. Several residents also visited the Sri Dharma Sastha Perumal temple to pray for Harris's victory.

However, as the day progressed, it became pretty clear that it was Donald Trump who was leading and when he eventually defeated his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, Thulasendrapuram village, which teemed with local and outside people, gradually became deserted and returned to its usual state of quietude. Two Americans and a citizen of the UK, fans of Harris, who had landed in the village the day before left the place.

J Sudhakar, DMK Tiruvarur district representative and Thulasendrapuram village leader, told PTI: "We were hoping for her victory and had planned celebrations bigger than Deepavali. We made arrangements to burst firecrackers, distribute sweets, offer temple pujas, and host a community lunch."

"But success and failure are part of life. It was a tough fight, and you must admire her fighting spirit. She is a fighter and will make a comeback," he added.

Other villagers shared similar sentiments, expressing confidence that Harris would continue her journey as a fighter and someday become the US president, even if it didn’t happen this time.

Village resident and retired ONGC employee T S Anbasarasu said, "We cannot digest the fact that she has lost, but the saving grace is she is only 60 year old and we expect her to win the next election. But Trump is 78. We are confident she will not get bogged down by this loss and will continue her work."

Furthermore, Anbarasu said, "Definitely we hope she will visit our village after getting elected in future...we expected her to visit our village a few years back and had sent messages to her relatives too...our village has become a tourist spot because of her."

Sudhakar noted that everyone in the village had hoped Harris, whose maternal ancestors hailed from Thulasendrapuram, would become the first woman US president.

"We hope she will win next time and visit our village. When that day comes, we will give her a grand reception. Meanwhile, we extend our best wishes to Donald Trump and hope he fosters good relations with India and promotes global peace," he added.

Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States.