In what could be the major change happening in the years to come, the 37-year-old Tulsi Gabbard who is the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress is planning to run for the American presidency in 2020, as per the sources close to her. Recently, at a Medtronic conference in Los Angeles a famous Indian-American, Dr Sampat Shivangi introduced Tulsi Gabbard and said that she could be the next president of the United States in 2020.
The brief statement received a big round of applause, in the presence of the four-term Congresswoman from Hawaii. Tulsi Gabbard is also the first lawmaker of the United States to take oath on Bhagavad Gita. She was born in a Catholic family in Samoa and she supported Hinduism since her childhood. Interestingly, she is also very knowledgeable in the Hindu scriptures.
Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat, who marked her presence in the gathering, neither confirmed or denied that she is running for president in 2020. If at all, Tulsi Gabbard declares her presidential bid, then she would be the first Hindu candidate ever from a major political party to announce to enter into the big stage for White House. If elected in 2020, she could also be the youngest ever and the first woman to be elected as the US president.
Ms Gabbard was elected for the 4th term for the US House of Representatives last week. A former vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Ms Gabbard currently plies her trade on powerful House Armed Services Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee. Ms Gabbard is also the Democratic Co-Chair of the Congressional India Caucus.
“She has been a fresh voice in the Democratic Party, with her support for US-India relations, her opposition to the war in Iraq, her opposition to arms sales to Saudi Arabia and her more recent vigorous opposition to among the rebels in Syria,” Dr Shivangi said.
The 2020 presidential primary cycle is slated to start from the Iowa Caucuses on February 3, 2020, followed by the New Hampshire Primary – February 11, Nevada caucus- February 15 and South Carolina on February 22. It has been said that Team Tulsi has been reaching out to people in these four States.
On the other end of the spectrum, President Donald Trump is all set to seek his re-election in 2020. But none of the Democratic candidates have announced their bid yet.
Inputs from PTI.