Nikki Haley’s rise in the primaries

IN A normal presidential election season, that former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley seems to be gaining momentum in the Republican primaries would have been considered very big news, perhaps even a gamechanger.

Haley, 51, a daughter of immigrants from Punjab, India, who had also served as America’s United Nations ambassador, has gained enough support in the opinion polls and is now on the verge of surpassing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as former president Donald Trump’s main adversary in the Republican presidential race.

Haley is now running neck-and-neck with DeSantis in Iowa where the first primary vote will take place in six weeks. And she is ahead of DeSantis in New Hampshire and South Carolina, but is still 50 percentage points behind Trump in the national polls.