Bobby Jindal becomes Governor of Louisiana

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First Indian American ever to become governor of US state

October 22, 2007

Bobby Jindal, son of Indian immigrants, became the first non-White and the youngest Governor of the US state of Louisiana when he impressively defeated his opponents in the gubernatorial poll.

The victory of 36-year-old Oxford-educated Jindal, who is currently a Republican Congressman, shows the growing political clout of the Indian-American community which has been very active during the last few years and has been major contributor to political campaigns financially as also in providing volunteers.

In winning Saturday’s election, Jindal polled more than 50 per cent votes, thus avoiding the run-off poll which was scheduled for November 17 if no candidate had won half the votes polled. "Let's give our homeland, the great state of Louisiana, a fresh start," Jindal said after his victory.

Piyush "Bobby" Jindal was born on June 10, 1971, in Baton Rouge to recently arrived Indian immigrants, Amar and Raj Jindal, who were attending graduate school. According to family lore, Jindal adopted the name Bobby after watching The Brady Bunch television program at age four. He has been known by that name ever since, as a civil servant, politician, student, and writer. Legally though his name remains Piyush Jindal.

Jindal was a Hindu but converted to Catholicism as a teenager. He attended high school at Baton Rouge Magnet High School. In 1991, he graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, with honors in biology and public policy. Afterwards, he received a master's degree in political science from New College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

In 1997, he married Supriya Jolly. The couple has three children, Celia, Shaan, and Slade.

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