NEW DELHI, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Indian newspapers Thursday hailed the election of Indian-American Bobby Jindal to a Louisiana Congressional seat, the second Indian to serve in Congress.
The Times of India said it was a great comeback for 33-year-old Jindal, who lost a bid for the governor's seat last year.
The first and only Indian to be elected to Congress until now was Californian Dalip Singh Saund in 1956. Saund served three two-year terms.
Piyush Jindal was born, raised and schooled in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He adopted the name "Bobby" from a TV serial and converted to Christianity in his teens.
After a spectacular academic career, including becoming a Rhodes Scholar, Jindal gave up admission to Harvard and Yale medical and law schools for a career in politics.
He was appointed Secretary of Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals when he was only 25, and went on to become Assistant Secretary of Health in the Bush administration at 27.
Widely regarded as a rising star among young Republican politicians, the staunchly conservative Jindal has seldom expressed any special interest in India. That does not prevent people in his ethnic homeland from taking pride in his accomplishment, however.
