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Haley's political comet soars ahead of her India visit (Gov. Nikki Haley)
The Times of India ^ | November 9, 2014 | Chidanand Rajghatta

Posted on 11/09/2014 8:57:26 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

When Ajit Randhawa's daughters Simmi and Nikki entered the Little Miss Bamberg school pageant in the small South Carolina town in the 1970s, the community was confused. They elected only a white queen and a black queen, and the Randhawa kids, immigrant children from Punjab, were neither. Undeterred, five year old Nikki, short for Nimrata, belted out the Woody Guthrie epic "This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to New York Island," the ultimate folksy tribute to Americana, before stomping off.

That little girl, now the 42-year young governor of South Carolina and a rising star in the Republican leadership firmament, will embark Tuesday on a ten-day visit to the land of her parents and forbears with the eyes of both her hosts and her constituents trained on her.

Nikki Haley is used to such attention. All her life, particularly after he political debut in a decade back, she has been identified as the other. One electoral rival called her a "raghead," a reference to the Sikh turban her father still wears; others claimed secret affairs with her. During the recent gubernatorial race in which she won a second term, her rival called her an unprintable expletive. It was South Carolina politics at its worst.

She has taken everything in her stride. "It's survival mode," she said in one interview, referring to her brothers having to cut their hair in order to escape being harassed in school. "You learn to try and show people how you're more alike than you are different." When she married Michael Haley, a fellow student she met while studying at Clemson University, the wedding ceremony was took place both in a Sikh Gurdwara, in deference to her parents' wishes, and in a Methodist church, to conform to her husband's religion that she embraced. She now describes herself as a Christian, and says both her children, Rena and Nalin, have been baptized.

While the issue of her religion has receded somewhat from the political discourse following her endorsement from almost the entire Republican spectrum, from Mitt Romney to Sarah Palin to Tea Party extremists, her first term as governor brought forth its share of controversy, including one surrounding a trip to Europe to drum up investment for the state during which she was accused of wasting $ 127,000 in taxpayer money. She enraged critics with a patronizing response to a newspaper story on the subject, saying, ''God bless that little girl at The Post and Courier. I mean her job is to try and create conflict. My job is to create jobs. In the end I'm going to have jobs to show for it.''

While she apologized for the remark, it's not clear if she did indeed generate jobs from that trip. But now endorsed by the electorate for a second term in the governor's mansion, Haley is headed to India some 40 years after she last visited as child of two. She will visit New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and her parents home state of Punjab, trying to gin up investment and create jobs in a state that has been somewhat of a laggard in U.S because of its agro base, but whose automotive and aerospace industries are attractive.


TOPICS: Editorial; Extended News; Front Page News; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: gop; india; nikkihaley; southcarolina
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1 posted on 11/09/2014 8:57:27 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
While the issue of her religion has receded somewhat from the political discourse following her endorsement from almost the entire Republican spectrum, from Mitt Romney to Sarah Palin to Tea Party extremists,

Tea Party extremists? What the hell? Who wrote this?

Oh. Chidanand Rajghatta. In the Times of India.

Say, do they still practice the caste system in India? Just wonderin'.

2 posted on 11/09/2014 9:02:10 AM PST by Texas Eagle
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

bfl


3 posted on 11/09/2014 9:05:16 AM PST by TEXOKIE (We must surrender only to our Holy God and never to the evil that has befallen us.)
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To: Texas Eagle

Are cows sacred?


4 posted on 11/09/2014 9:05:38 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.)
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To: Texas Eagle

Isn’t Sarah a Tea Party extremist?!!! She’ll be insulted when she sees this. ;-)


5 posted on 11/09/2014 9:07:08 AM PST by Twotone (Truth is hate to those who hate truth.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Now that I'm sure of. Yes.

While millions of Indians are starving, food is walking the streets, blocking traffic, generally making a mess of things.

I wonder who benefits from convincing the little people those things are gods.

It wouldn't be their "leaders" by any chance, would it? Nahhhhhh.

6 posted on 11/09/2014 9:08:08 AM PST by Texas Eagle
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To: Texas Eagle

Yes, the caste system is still closely adhered to, but by a smaller proportion of the population than generations ago.
Still, one has to be very VERY careful in any mixing. There are many Romeo and Juliette style romances between the castes that result in acid thrown in the bride’s face or a public stoning of both. India is so vast, you have enough room for both realities of the primitive and modern.


7 posted on 11/09/2014 9:13:32 AM PST by lee martell
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To: Texas Eagle

There is a low caste that is permitted to butcher and sell meat, leather and other goods to Muslims and others when the cows eventually die.


8 posted on 11/09/2014 9:17:04 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.)
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To: Texas Eagle

Chidanand Rajghatta is Washington, D.C. based Liberal. He is one of those who want to mix in with “Hip” crowd.


9 posted on 11/09/2014 9:21:16 AM PST by jennychase
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To: Texas Eagle

Not sure this is 100% correct....didnt the huckster gang try to smear Haley?


10 posted on 11/09/2014 10:15:23 AM PST by rrrod (at home in Medellin Colombia)
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To: rrrod
didnt the huckster gang try to smear Haley

Lots of people did. However, if I was the governor of a state and was serious about stewardship of the taxpayers' funds, I would have my accountants running a cost-benefit analysis on "economic development" junkets to foreign parts. The article says it's not known whether Gov. Haley's trip to Europe resulted in any employment for South Carolinians. Well, it should be known.

In the absence of hard numbers showing a real benefit to the citizens, all public officials should be paying for their own travel. Gov. Haley could visit India on a personal trip, and do a little schmoozing with businesspeople just as a favor to the voters.

11 posted on 11/09/2014 12:34:31 PM PST by Tax-chick (You are never far from a spider.)
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To: Tax-chick

Cuomo and Perry travel like Michelle Obama on these types of junkets.


12 posted on 11/09/2014 5:00:24 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Since the BJP won and Modi is prime minister, I would expect she will receive a warm welcome


13 posted on 11/09/2014 7:02:45 PM PST by Katya (Homo Nosce Te Ipsum)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Suck it up liberals. This is a picture of a TRUE conservative family.


14 posted on 11/09/2014 11:19:50 PM PST by Cronos (ObamaÂ’s dislike of Assad is not based on AssadÂ’s brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Here's a link to a SC paper's story about her trip. No mention of Tea Party extremists.

SC Commerce chief: Haley’s India trip great chance for “first impression”

15 posted on 11/09/2014 11:55:42 PM PST by csvset
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Cuomo and Perry travel like Michelle Obama on these types of junkets.

"It's good to be the king!"

16 posted on 11/10/2014 2:31:41 AM PST by Tax-chick (You are never far from a spider.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Before we pile on a silly pageant in SC decades ago--we could do with a comment on the present-day caste system of India, which is not only institutionalized racism but slavery!!
17 posted on 11/10/2014 4:14:46 AM PST by Mamzelle
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To: Texas Eagle

Absolutely, the caste system is living and vicious in India. And about a quarter of the population refuse to use latrines, preferring the fields and ditches...


18 posted on 11/10/2014 4:17:37 AM PST by Mamzelle
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To: Tax-chick
S.C. to receive 'Gold Shovel' for job creation, economic impact

South Carolina's projects were: Keer's building of a $218 million textile plant in Lancaster County; Harbor Freight Tools USA's $75 million expansion of its distribution center in Dillon County; JN Fibers' construction of a $45 million facility in Chester County; and Colgate-Palmolive Company's plan to build a $196 million plant in Greenwood County to manufacture hand soap.

Among the mentions was South Carolina's recruitment of more than $5 billion in capital investment and more than 8,000 jobs since 2011 in the automotive sector.

Home to more than 250 automotive manufacturing plants, the state continues to attract top-tier suppliers, such as ZF Transmissions, which recently announced a $175 million expansion of its operations in Laurens County — its third expansion in four years for ZF, bringing the company's total investment in South Carolina to more than $600 million, the magazine said.

Michelin North America, South Carolina's largest manufacturing employer, was also noted. Over the last several years the company has announced new projects totaling $1.15 billion, which will create nearly 900 new jobs, the magazine said.

How many were form Germany? No idea. Maybe a bunch. Maybe none. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. But overall SC is doing well.
19 posted on 11/10/2014 9:38:10 AM PST by Gamecock (USA, Ret. 27 years.)
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To: Gamecock

Thanks for the info! Economic growth in SC is good for NC, too.


20 posted on 11/10/2014 9:41:47 AM PST by Tax-chick (You are never far from a spider.)
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