Nikki represents the growing political aspirations of the Indian American community. A record number of Indian Americans are running for Congress this year. In recent times, they have been elected to the state legislatures in Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Wyoming. The list is growing as besides Nikki, six Indian-Americans are running for political office this year. Surya Yalamanchili in Ohio and Manan Trivedi in Pennsylvania have received the Democratic nomination for their congressional districts, while Raj Goyel in Kansas, Ami Bera in California, Ravi Sangisetty in Louisiana, and Reshma Saujani in New York -all Democrats- are waiting to go through the primary process.

Nikkis' rise in politics is dramatic. She was first elected to represent the 87th District in Lexington County of South Carolina in 2004. and came back in 2008 with 83 percent of the vote - the highest percentage ever.

Named as Nimrata Nikki Randhawa, the daughter of an Indian immigrant family from Punjab, she was born in Bamberg in South Carolina. Her father Ajit Randhawa, was a biology professor at a local college. Her mother Raj started a gift shop Exotica which has grown into a multi million dollar business today. Nikki's first job was to keep accounts of Exotica at the age of 13. She got an accounting degree later and married Michael Haley, a federal employee with the US Department of the Army and an officer of South Carolina Army national Guard.

Nikki is in the spotlight for two reasons - the first is the growing number of Republican women contesting elections this year and second of her Indian origin. She also represents the Indian community gradually switching over to the Republicans in contrast to their 100 per cent support to the democrats in the seventies and eighties.

The clout of the Indian Americans was evident when the US President Obama hosted his first state dinner for visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year as almost one third of the invitees were successful Indian Americans.

What is the reason for the growing clout of the Indian origin Americans? First of all, it is their growing presence and influence. The incredible success of over 3 million Indian Americans was sharply reflected in their topping US Census charts again as the best-educated, highest-paid and top-placed community among America's 38.1 million foreign-born immigrants. They are the fourth largest immigrant group in the U.S. after Mexican Americans, Chinese Americans, and Filipino Americans. California has the most Indian-Americans, followed by New York, New Jersey, Texas and Illinois. Their contribution to America's economy is significant especially in the hotel, information technology, as well as in the healthcare field. In Iowa, Ohio, Kansas, Minnesota, South Carolina and Maryland, each of which has sent an Indian-American to its state legislature, the Indian-American population is between zero and 2 percent

Second, they have learnt to mobilize themselves in the past two decades. Wikipedia lists 40 Indian Americans in US politics today. Agencies like the US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), a bipartisan group based in the Washington has played a significant role in recent years in encouraging them to run for local, state, and federal offices.

Third, financial contributions made by the Indian community to politicians have risen steadily in the past two decades. Correspondingly, the community's desire to see Indian American representation in the US Congress has intensified. Gone are the days when they were satisfied with a photograph with the US President or influential politicians in return for their hefty donations. Now they want to be in the driving seat themselves.

Fourth, while the First generation Indian Americans who came to the US in the sixties tried to preserve their religious and cultural heritage, the second generation tried to adopt a mix of their Indian as well as American culture in which they grew up. They are now building on their parents' success. While prior to 2000 only four Indian Americans had held office on a state or national level, and only one Indian American had ever been elected to Congress, it is changing rapidly now.

Fifth, their growing economic and political clout is one of the reasons. Four Indians- Bharat Desai, Kavitark Ram Shriram, Romesh Wadhwani, and Vinod Khosla - are among America's billionaire group rubbing shoulders with the Microsoft boss Bill Gates and other rich Americans. Those from the Silicon Valley are the first batch of successful Indian Americans who made millions in the IT sector. Many Indian Americans have brought name and fame. Khorana, Chandrasekhar and Ramakrishna have won Nobel prizes. There are prominent Indians in academics like Amartya Sen, Jagdish Bhagwati and Avinash Dixit. In business Indra Nooyi, Amar Bose and Vinod Khosla remain prominent Indian Americans.

Sixth, even the US Presidents have begun to take note of India since the Clinton days. Bush administration created a big hype about India and took the Indo-US ties to new heights. Obama has appointed 20 Indian-Americans to his administration, an all-time high. Obama also was the first president to celebrate Diwali in the White House.

Further, growing ties between the two countries, economies and governments have helped sustain and accelerate India's rise. The nearly three million Indian-Americans in the US provide a powerful connection with India as do the more than 100,000 Indian students studying in U.S. universities.

One thing is that most of these politicians are born and brought up in the US and blend well with the locals. With the name of Bobby Jindal considered as a vice presidential candidate by Republicans, it is quite possible to have a person of Indian origin occupying the highest office in the USA. (IPA Service)