Hillary, Obama woo Indian Americans

US POLLS: Indian-Americans seem to find qualities to support in major candidates.

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Keywords: Indian Voters, Obama

New York: Democratic presidential candidates are now eyeing the Indian American community for its votes and contributions - even wooing them with Bollywood.

Seeking Indian votes - except this is New York and the votes Presidential US candidate Hillary Clinton wants is that of the Indian American community.

And the man behind the event hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal has bigger plans.

The larger US population may have other campaign issues - but for this vote bank- Bollywood still pushes all the right buttons.

And Chatwal is counting on the Bachchans and Aishwarya to bring in more votes.

Chatwal says, “Most probably middle of August or third week of August, we want a Bollywood show where we will have 22,000 Indians in Nassau Coliseum. So we can show Bollywood stars also love Indian-Americans and Indian-Americans want to join this programme so they can really participate, enjoy and still help Hillary Clinton.”

Other supporters say Hillary's record on Indo-US ties should be enough to bind the community.

But Clinton's competition is closer than her supporters think. Just a few blocks away - another part of the South Asian community - mainly Indians Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are putting their might behind her rival Barack Obama.

They say they are trying for a small piece of the pie to begin with - making up for their smaller numbers with high energy levels.

South Asians for Obama Udai Tambar says: “We are setting out a modest goal of doing 'One Lakh for Barack'. And that's trying to get 100,000 South Asians to give money to or get involved in this Obama campaign.”

Indian-Americans now constitute 16 per cent of the American population with deeper pockets than most other immigrant communities- and that makes them even more attractive vote bank.

Hillary's experience or Obama's energy - Indian-Americans seem to find qualities to support in the major candidates on either side of the Democratic divide.