PIX: This US Congress swearing-in is historic for all desis

The new United States Congress is the most racially diverse in American history.
Not only does it have the first Indian-American US Senator in Kamala Harris, it also has the first Indian-American Congresswoman in Pramila Jayapal.
And for the first time in history there are also four Indian Americans in the House of Representatives!
Glimpses of the change of guard as the 115th US Congress convenes, points out Monali Sarkar.

Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California and attorney general of the state before this, in a re-enacted swearing in with US Vice-President Joe Biden in the Old Senate Chamber at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, January 3, 2017.

Photograph: Aaron P Bernstein/Getty Images

How Kamala Harris scripted history

Earlier in the day Biden swore in the newly elected and returning members on the Senate floor.

Harris made history on multiple levels with her election. Not only is she the first Indian American elected to the US Senate, she is only the second black woman to be elected to the US Senate.

Interestingly, Harris is the sixth black individual to be elected to the US Senate; US President Barack Obama was the fifth.

Photograph: Maya Harris/Twitter.com

Kamala Harris: I have a track record of innovation

<

Biden, fourth from left, poses with Harris, second from left, and her family -- including her youngest aunt Mahalakshmi, left, who was by her side throughout the campaign; her husband Douglas Emhoff, third from left; her sister Maya Harris, second from right, who was a senior policy advisor to the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Photograph: Aaron P Bernstein/Getty Images

My niece, the US Senator

House Speaker Paul Ryan swore in the new members of the US House of Representatives in the House Chamber on January 3, 2017. The House of Representatives reconvened the same day with the start of the 115th Congress.

Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Among those sworn in were Dr Ami Bera, left, who has been elected to the House for a third term, making him the longest-serving desi Congressman; and first timers Pramila Jayapal, right, also the first Indian-American US Congresswoman; Ro Khanna, second from right, from California; and Raja Krishnamoorthi, second from left, from Illinois.

The House of Representatives reconvened the same day with the start of the 115th Congress.

Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Also read

Ami Bera: The dean of Indian Americans in US Congress

Pramila Jayapal: The making of the first Indian-American woman in US House of Representatives

Raja Krishnamoorthi: The Congressman who Obama endorsed

Ro Khanna: Silicon Valley's first Indian American Congressman