Euphoria in Usha Chilukuri Vance’s ancestral village in AP

PTI West Godavari (AP): Following the victory of Donald Trump and his vice presidential candidate JD Vance in the 2024 US presidential elections, there is euphoria at Vadluru in Andhra Pradesh, which is the ancestral village of Vance’s wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance. Vadluru is about 3 km from the town Tanuku in West Godavari district, where Usha’s family once lived. The villagers celebrated her husband’s victory in the US election. “We just celebrated Usha’s husband’s victory. We burst crackers and preceded this celebration with prayers for JD Vance’s victory yesterday at the local Sai Baba temple,” P Srinivasa Raju (53), a former village president, told PTI.

About 30 to 40 local villagers distributed sweets to celebrate Vance’s victory and Usha’s links to the village, who is expected to become the second lady of the United States. Incidentally, the Sai Baba temple in the village was constructed on a plot donated by Usha’s family. Further, Raju said that Vadluru village was expected to benefit in some way from JD Vance’s wife. According to Badri Narayana (67), a villager, Usha’s family would have lived in the village more than 70 years ago. He noted that her grandfather was a farmer in the village but he never saw anybody from that family. However, he said that Usha’s distant relatives, who do not have any links with the family now, continue to live in the village. Vadluru first came into the international limelight in July, immediately after Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate. Usha is an accomplished lawyer educated at Yale University. Meanwhile, C Shantamma, a 96-year-old-year Vizag-based physics professor and a distant relative of 38-year-old Usha, who never met or spoke to the latter expressed happiness over JD Vance’s triumph in the US polls.

“I am happy that she (Usha through husband JD Vance) won. As they are our people, it is a bit more happier. Because they belong to our families, we are happy. I am happy after coming to know about our relationship,” Shantamma told PTI Videos. The nonagenarian is related to Usha through her husband C Subramanya Sastry. Subramanya Sastry’s oldest brother, C Rama Sastry, is Usha’s grandfather.According to Santhamma, Usha’s parents, C Radhakrishna and Lakshmi, emigrated to the US around 1980. Though many people go on to become presidents and secretaries, Santhamma noted that the relationship she shares with Usha through the Chilukuri surname makes this election victory sweeter.Further, Santhamma added that she came to know of Usha’s husband’s victory after watching an election video.