By Kollengode S Venkataraman

In the overcrowded field of Republicans seeking nomination for the White House, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal became irrelevant on the very day he announced his intention in late June. I was not a fan of Jindal even when he was a rising GOP star years ago. This is what I wrote in 2010 on Jindal:

“When Jindal as governor was invited to the White House Diwali function — which has now lost all its religious significance — he did not show up. Probably because of the bad optics of the video clips filling the “very Southern” Louisiana airwaves in election commercials showing a brown Jindal in an Indian “Hindu” function in the midst of other brown Indians. That will not sit well in the deeply ‘Southern’ Louisiana… … Jindal, the Ivy league Brown University graduate in biology, in his anxiety to get elected as the governor of Louisiana, was also running away from Darwin’s Natural Selection and embraced the Judeo-Christian idea of creation in which the universe is only 6,000 years old, give or take a few centuries…”

No sooner had Bobby Jindal announced in June seeking the GOP nomination for the White House, comments from mainstream readers were pungent and sarcastic. From the Washington Post:

“According to conservative GOPers life begins at conception. So Piyush Jindal isn’t even eligible to run for President, because he was conceived in India.” [Note:  Jindal was born a few months after his pregnant mother landed in the US.]

“The mistake is thinking that being smart always translates into good policy. Plenty of smart people trade ambition and greed for good policy. Jindal is just the latest example.”

“For laughs, I have to report that the NOLA.com’s online headline was not Jindal’s announcement but the protestors at the event—you know how bad the guy is when his own citizens will take the time to derail him… … Usually these people support … anything … coming out of the state on loyalty alone.”

“Bobby is thankful for Mississippi; because without it, Louisiana would be dead last in just about every state ranking category.”

From the New York Times:

“…[M]ost of us here in Louisiana are eager to enter the post-Jindal era…  His has wrecked the state budget, state schools, state roads, state healthcare, and more — all to stay true to the “oath” he took not to raise taxes. Some of us are willing to pay a little more in order to have better schools, roads, healthcare, etc.; even the conservatives among us want these things and want Jindal out.”

“A true American success story. Born of immigrant parents. Is a brilliant student. Graduates at the top of his high school class. Gets a first class education at prestigious Ivy League School. Goes on to become a Rhodes Scholar. Works at McKinsey and Co. Is soon elected Governor of Louisiana at the age of 36. This is where things go wrong… … Seems all that promise hits a brick wall when it comes down to actually doing something productive. My recommendation [for Jindal] is to go back to McKinsey and Co. where the talented Mr. Jindal is likely to only bankrupt one or two corporations rather than an entire state. This fellow seems to have peaked in high school!”

Normally, in American electoral politics, candidates get support at least from their own ethnic groups. But Desis joined the mainstream chorus against Bobby. Here is an example from Hari Kondabolu, an Indian-American comedian in a radio network:

“Anyone got photos of Bobby Jindal eating gulab jamun or jelebi? Please release them. It may destroy his presidential campaign.”

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