Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal c. 2005, photo by United States Congress (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Birth Name: Piyush Jindal

Place of Birth: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.

Date of Birth: June 10, 1971

Ethnicity: Punjabi Indian

Bobby Jindal is an American politician. A Republican, he served as Governor of Louisiana, from January 14, 2008 to January 11, 2016. He was also Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation, from July 9, 2001 to February 21, 2003, and a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana, from January 3, 2005 to January 14, 2008.

He was a candidate for the Republican Party’s nomination for President of the United States in 2016.

Bobby is the son of Punjabi Indian immigrant parents, Raj (Gupta), who worked in nuclear physics, and Amar Jindal, a civil engineer. His parents were from Malerkotla. He was the first Indian-American governor in the United States. Raised a Hindu, he converted to Catholicism while attending college. He is married to Supriya Jolly, with whom he has three children.

Bobby’s paternal grandfather was a merchant, from Khanpur, Samrala.

Bobby’s maternal grandfather was a Ferozepur banker.

Bobby is the first Indian-American to have mounted a notable campaign for a major political party’s nomination for President of the United States. Other Asian-Americans who have mounted or are mounting plausible or semi-plausible campaigns for a major party’s presidential nomination were/are:
*Hiram Fong (who sought the 1964 and 1968 Republican nominations; Fong was of Chinese descent)
*Patsy Mink (who sought the 1972 Democratic nomination; Mink was of Japanese descent)
*Andrew Yang (who sought the 2020 Democratic nomination; Yang’s parents are Taiwanese)
*Kamala Harris (who is the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States in 2024, and had also sought the 2020 Democratic nomination; Harris’ mother was a Tamil Indian)
*Nikki Haley (2024; Republican; won 2 contests; Haley is of Punjabi Indian descent)
*Vivek Ramaswamy (who sought the 2024 Republican nomination; Ramaswamy is of Tamil Indian descent)

Kamala Harris began serving as Vice President of the United States in 2021.

Bobby is also one of five people who were at least partly raised in the Hindu faith, or a Hindu-related faith, to run for a major party’s presidential nomination. Tulsi Gabbard, who also sought the Democratic Party’s 2020 nomination; Kamala Harris, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy, are the others. Of the five, only Tulsi and Vivek identify as Hindu presently.

Source: http://www.iht.com