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Bobby Jindal
Faces tough task ahead
Louisiana has
been devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita
WSN Network
New York: Bobby Jindal, the Oxford-educated son of Punjabi
immigrants, who scripted history by winning the Louisiana Governor
race, faces daunting challenges ahead when he takes over one of the
poorest and most uneducated states of the United State from
incumbent Kathleen Blanco.
Born on June 10, 1971, in Baton Rouge in Louisiana, Republican
Jindal, a rising star of US president George Bush’s party, defeated
his opponents in a state that usually picks its leaders from deep in
the rural hinterland and has not had a non-white head since the
reconstruction era.
Jindal, who was twice elected to two-year term each for Congress
from Louisiana’s First Congressional District based in the suburbs
of New Orleans, is currently a member of the House of
Representatives and would retain the post till January next when he
assumes the charge as Governor in January next, the youngest person
to hold the post in the country.
He faces significant challenges as the chief executive of Louisiana,
a state which was devastated by hurricans Katrina and Rita.
Incumbent Blanco had faced severe criticism for her handling of the
situation in the aftermath of the hurricanes. Jindal, born a Hindu
but convert to Catholicism, attended high school at Baton Rouge
Magnet High School. In 1991, he graduated from Brown University in
Providence, Rhode Island, with honours in biology and public policy.
Afterwards, he received a master’s degree in political science from
New College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Jindal is the second
Indian-American to serve in Congress after Dalip Singh Saund, a
Democrat who represented California’s 29th District from 1957 to
1963. He was chosen by Scholastic Update magazine as “one of
America’s top 10 extraordinary young people for the next
millennium”.
In 1997, he married Supriya Jolly and the couple has three children
— Celia, Shaan, and Slade. While running for the top state post,
Jindal did not have the support of a majority of Blacks, about a
third of the population, who usually vote Democratic. Yet Jindal,
with his decisive victory yesterday, appears to have overcome a
significant racial hurdle that blocked him in 2003. Jindal
campaigned as a cautious reformer, promising a more ethical govt,
with greater transparency from lobbyists and legislators.
But he faces significant challenges as he takes over what is now one
of the poorest, most uneducated and most unhealthy state of the US,
by a number of important measures. Jindal has many notable
legislative accomplishments since being elected to the House of
Representatives, including the successful passage of legislation to
bring significant offshore energy revenues to Louisiana for the
first time.
24
October,
2007
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