First Hindu in US Congress, Tulsi Gabbard, to run for President
New York, - The race for US presidency in next year’s election is likely to see a Hindu representative and a senator of part-indian-american descent vying for the Democratic Party’s nomination.
Tulsi Gabbard, 37, the first Hindu elected to the US Congress, announced on Friday that she will be running for president.
Kamala Harris, 54, who is of Indian and African-jamaican descent and is identified as a member of the Christian Baptist sect, is expected to announce her candidature for the Democratic Party nomination next week, according to several news reports quoting sources close to her.
Adding to the mix, there is speculation that Nikki Haley, who quit as US Permanent Representative to the UN at the end of last last may seek the Republican Party nomination in the event that President Donald Trump is not up for re-election next year. The former South Carolina Governor was the first Indian American to be a member of the US cabinet and has received some Republican Party grassroots support for a 2024 run. Gabbard is not of Indian descent but comes from a Hindu family in Hawaii and took her oath office on the Bhagavad Gita when she was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2011 and after her three re-elections. An independent-minded Democrat who has defied party leadership, Gabbard said in an interview on CNN: “I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week.”