US president-elect Joe Biden has named two more Indian Americans to plum appointments in the post-Trump world: Gautam Raghavan is coming in as Deputy Director in the Office of Presidential Personnel and Vinay Reddy will be the Director of Speechwriting, according to a statement on Tuesday from the transition team.

Already, at least eight Indian Americans have snagged headline-grabbing appointments in the incoming government: Vivek Murthy is US Surgeon General nominee, Atul Gawande and Celine Gounder are on the coronavirus task force, Neera Tanden is nominated for Office of Management and Budget lead, Vedant Patel will be White House assistant press secretary and Mala Adiga has been chosen as policy director for First Lady Jill Biden.

Vinay Reddy, Director of Speechwriting: Vinay Reddy serves as a speechwriter on the Biden-Harris Transition and served as Senior Advisor and Speechwriter for the Biden-Harris Campaign. He previously served as chief speechwriter to Vice President Biden in the second term of the Obama-Biden White House, after which, he worked as Vice President of Strategic Communications at the National Basketball Association. During the Obama-Biden Administration, he also served as a senior speechwriter at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, deputy speechwriter for the Obama-Biden reelection campaign, and speechwriter for his home state Senator, Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

Reddy grew up in Dayton, Ohio, the middle of three sons in an immigrant family and is a product of Ohio public schools from kindergarten to Miami University to The Ohio State University College of Law. He currently lives in New York with his wife and their two daughters.

Gautam Raghavan is a prominent member of the gay rights movement and had served as the Obama-Biden Administration liaison to the LGBTQ community.

He is also the second Biden-Harris appointee with connections to Indian American House of Representatives member Pramila Jayapal, a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, having served as her chief of staff. Last week, Biden appointed Vedant Patel, a former communications aide to Jayapal, as his assistant press secretary. Like Patel's nomination, Raghavan's too is a gesture to the left.

Raghavan openly identifies as gay, introducing himself on his Twitter handle as "Appa, husband, gay, immigrant, proud naturalized citizen". Biden's announcement said Raghavan lives with his "husband and daughter in Washington D.C".

Raghavan, who was born in India, reacted to the mispronouncing of Kamala Harris's name, saying on his pinned tweet: "My great grandmother's name was Kamala. Not "Kamala-mala-mala, I don't know, whatever.

"MyNameIs Gautam. It means bright light. The kind of bright light a Biden-Harris Administration will represent. And that is why IWillVote."

(IANS)