Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s US Senate race has drawn attention to his unexpected Indian connection through his wife, Sarah Jukaku. Sarah, a psychiatrist born and raised in Michigan, comes from an Indian-origin family whose roots trace back to Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district.
El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers, who was backed by US President Donald Trump , in Michigan’s Senate race. His victory has now drawn attention to his wife’s family background and her connection to India . Sarah Jukaku is a psychiatrist who was born and raised in Michigan to Indian immigrant parents. Her father, Dr Tayeb Jukaku, is a nephrologist originally from Bhatkal. El-Sayed has often spoken about his family’s Indian cultural connections, once joking about being surrounded by desi women throughout his life. “My wife is desi. Her grandfather, Jukaku Shamshuddin, was a prominent lawyer and political figure who served as deputy minister for finance in the erstwhile Mysore State under then chief minister BD Jatti.
He also spoke about his wife’s Indian ancestry while addressing a Pakistan Independence Day gathering organised by the Pakistan Association of America in Michigan on August 23.
He completed his medical degree at Bengaluru Medical College before moving to the United States in the 1980s, according to Washington-based magazine The American Bazaar. “I’m like surrounded by desi women my whole life like I have two desi daughters and a desi wife,” he said in one conversation, as per the outlet. She’s from the other side of the partition line,” he said, referring to Jukaku’s Indian roots. Speaking about his familiarity with South Indian culture after nearly two decades of marriage, El-Sayed said in another interview, “Listen, I’ve been married in a South Indian family for 20 years, like… I am well inducted now I… you know, I might be more Indian than I am Arab.” (Also Read: ‘When JD swears me in, you can call me senator’: Abdul El-Sayed mocks team Trump ) According to The American Bazaar, Sarah’s family traces its roots to Bhatkal, located around 140 km from Mangaluru.
