The Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has an Indian assisting him get the winning numbers in Arizona. A 30-year-old IIM Lucknow alumnus, Avinash Iragavarapu is spearheading the Indian-American lobby behind the Republican Party's White House candidate.

Iragavarapu has been using big data to create poll strategies for Trump in Arizona. The Rajahmundry resident got his first success at home back in India during the 2014 general elections. He left his job at HCL to work for YSR Congress party-led by Jagan Moha Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. Iragavarapu flew to Arizona to visit his wife, who was studying in Chantel in June the same year.

A chance spotting of signboard on American local elections led him to the state's former treasurer Doug Ducey who was vying for a Republican Party nomination. Iragavarapu used his data crunching skills to predict a win for Ducey and he was right. His skills impressed state GOP party chairman Robert Graham and he appointed him as the data director of the party.

The Arizona Republic reported, "He has political intuition," Graham said. Despite his repeated India bashing, Iragavarapu backs Trump, who he calls a "warm" and "welcoming" person.

The techgig.com reported, "He (Trump) is not a traditional candidate. He has rewritten all the rules in political campaigning. He spent the least amount of money in the primary elections (Unlike in India, people choose the party nominee through elections). There were 16 other candidates contesting in the primary, including accomplished governors, senators and business people. He beat all of them with a high margin. Trump is a smart businessman and knows how to market himself. He got a $2 billion worth free media coverage. No amount of spend can match that advantage," he said.

The United state of Arizona is important for Trump since no Democrat has won the state apart from Bill Clinton in 1996. Despite some of his anti-India outburst, Trump has found a huge support system among Indian-Americans, who have historically leaned towards the Democratic Party.

"The Republican Party platform supports free markets, less governance, balancing of budget, revitalizing of the economy and reduced taxes. Most young Indian-Americans are aspirational and hardworking people, they don't want a government that believes in handouts," Iragavarapu said.

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Nandini