By IANS
New York : Prominent US Republican Bobby Jindal has won the Louisiana governor’s race, becoming the first-ever politician of Indian descent to become governor of any of the 50 US states.
Jindal, 36, the son of Indian immigrants from Maler Kotla, a small town in Sangrur district of Punjab, won 444,550 votes or 53 percent on Saturday. He will be the country’s youngest governor in office when he takes over in January.
Those who lost to him included Democrat Walter Boasso with 155,154 votes or 18 percent, independent John Georges (120,103 votes, 14 percent) and Democrat Foster Campbell (109,375 votes, 13 percent). Eight candidates divided the rest of the votes.
Jindal had lost the Louisiana governor’s election four years ago to Governor Kathleen Blanco. Blanco opted not to run for re-election after she was widely blamed for the state’s slow response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
“Let’s give our homeland, the great state of Louisiana, a fresh start,” a visibly jubilant Jindal told cheering supporters after his historic win, with his wife standing by his side. “The American dream is alive and kicking!”
Jindal was born on June 10, 1971 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As a youth he started calling himself Bobby in an attempt to assimilate with the American society, and as a teenager converted to Roman Catholicism.
He was elected to the US House of Representatives Nov 2, 2004 from Louisiana.
A graduate from Brown University, Rhode Island, Jindal was appointed secretary of Louisiana’s department of health and hospitals. From 1998 to 1999, he was executive director of the national bipartisan commission on the future of medical care.
He majored in biology and political science and won a prestigious Rhodes scholarship to study at New College in Oxford, England. Jindal went to work for the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
President George W. Bush appointed him the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation in the US Department of Health and Human Services.
He married Supriya Jolly in 1997. The couple has three children.
More and more Indian Americans are getting more politically empowered. Nine Indian Americans won last year’s elections to US Congress.
According to US census, the Indian American population grew from 16.7 million in 2000 to 23.1 million in 2005. The community boasts of the highest educational qualifications in the US.
The education levels have enabled Indian Americans to become a productive segment, with 72.3 percent being a part of the US work force. Of this, nearly 60 percent are employed in managerial and professional specialties.