‘Son-in-law of Karnataka’: Abdul El-Sayed’s Indian side of family celebrates US midterms win

Family members of Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed in India are celebrating his victory in the US midterm elections after he beat Republican Mike Rogers following a bitter campaign in one of the most important swing states.Dr El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, is married Sarah Jukaku, a practicing psychiatrist with roots in India's southern state of Karnataka.The couple met during their time at the University of Michigan and subsequently got married in 2006, according to reports. While Dr Jukaku was born and raised in Michigan, her relatives still live in Bhatkal, around 490km west of state capital, Bengaluru.Jukaku Abdul Majeed, a Kerala-based businessman and uncle of Dr Jukaku, said Dr El-Sayed's victory was a deeply personal triumph."Muslims constitute only around 2.5 per cent of the US population. We never imagined that the outcome would be in his favour, given the circumstances. His victory came as a blessing," he told the New Indian Express.Family members called Dr El-Sayed the “son-in-law of Karnataka” and a warm and approachable person. The couple, who share two daughters, had travelled to Bhatkal over a decade ago to attend a cousin's wedding, spending at least four days with the family.Dr Jukaku's cousin Bibi Husna told NDTV that the family was stressed during the fierce campaign and on the counting day. "But by the grace of God, it has been a lovely victory," she said.Mr El-Sayed, during his campaign, quipped that being married to a South Indian woman for two decades had made him "more Indian than Arab". "Everybody likes desis more than Arabs," he said on a podcast.He added: "I'm an honorary Indian. There is a patience to Indian culture that I appreciated only when I went to India. You're surrounded by a billion people. Nothing gets done quickly," he added.In another podcast posted in August, he recalled that his uncle asked him why he married an Indian when there were 80 million Egyptians. Dr El-Sayed responded, saying: "Amu (uncle in Arabic), there are a billion of them, so statistically speaking, this was a high probability."Mr El-Sayed separately said he was "surrounded by desi women... I have two desi daughters and a desi wife".Dr Jukaku's father, Jukaku Tayeb, studied at the Bangalore Medical College before moving to the US in 1976. Her grandfather, Jukaku Shamshuddin, served as deputy minister for finance in the erstwhile Mysore state.Mr El-Sayed has also often spoken fondly about his heritage, praised Egyptian food and humour, and warmly recalled summers in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, where his father grew up.Mr El-Sayed is a former public health official who focused his grassroots campaign on universal health care, removing outside money from elections, and sharp criticism of Israel. It carried him past massive outside spending in both the Democratic primary and the general election.His victory will bolster the movement ahead of the 2028 presidential election, offering evidence that candidates embracing its agenda can win in critical battleground states.Former president Barack Obama and former vice president Kamala Harris were among the high-profile Democrats who campaigned with El-Sayed in the city to help mobilise voters.