Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev has come out in support of Indian American Puneet Ahluwalia, who is in the race for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
The Republican party is slated to pick its nominee for the Lieutenant Governor at a hybrid convention on May 8.
“Wishing all the luck,” Kapil Dev said in a video posted on Facebook.
“I hope, I can come and help you,” he said in the video.
A successful businessman, Ahluwalia, if elected, would be the first Indian American to be elected to a high position in the state of Virginia.
“Thank you to my friend Kapil Dev, one of the greatest cricket players ever, for these kind words of support,” Ahluwalia, 55, said.
Delhi-born Ahluwalia migrated to the US in 1990. His wife Nadia is originally from Afghanistan.
The brief video of support from Kapil Dev is expected to boost Ahluwalia's campaign in Virginia, which over the past decade has seen a rapid expansion of Indian Americans, and also those from other cricket-loving South Asian countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, especially in townships around the Washington DC area.
Virginia, notably, also has a number of local cricket clubs.
In 2010, Virginia ranked seventh in terms of number of Indian Americans in a US state. In 2019, according to University of Virginia estimates, there were more than half a million Asian Americans in the state.
