Tulsi Gabbard, First Hindu in US Congress, announces 2020 presidential run to take on Trump
Washington, Jan 12: Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, has said that she is running for the White House in 2020.
Gabbard, 37, is the second woman after Senator Elizabeth Warren to enter the presidential race from the Democratic party.
More than 12 Democratic leaders including Indian-origin Senator from California Kamala Harris are expected to announce their White House run to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020.
Gabbard, a four-time Democratic lawmaker in the US House of Representatives from Hawaii, told CNN Friday: "I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week".
The Iraq war veteran has become the first-ever Hindu to be running for the presidency in the US.
Gabbard, who converted to Hinduism early in her life, is highly popular among Indian-Americans.
If elected, she would be the youngest ever and first woman President of the United States. She would also be the first non-Christian and first Hindu to occupy the top post. However, at this point of time, American political pundits do not give her much chance.
Hindus constitute less than one per cent of the American population, an overwhelming majority of whom are either from India or are people of Indian-origin.
Gabbard, a co-Chair of the powerful House India Caucus, was recently re-elected for the US House of Representatives from Hawaii for the fourth consecutive term.
A winner of the primary elections beginning early 2020 would be finally nominated by the Democratic party in its convention later that summer to challenge the Republican candidate in the November 2020 elections.
President Trump has announced to seek his re-election. The winner of the Democratic primary would be pitted against him.
Gabbard, who supported Senator Bernie Sanders against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary, told the CNN that there are a lot of reasons for her to take this decision.
"There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve," she said.
She listed access to health care, criminal justice reform and climate change as key issues.
"There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace. I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth when we make our announcement," Gabbard said.
Former US vice president Joe Biden has also expressed his interest in the 2020 bid.
Rania Batrice, who was a deputy campaign manager for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and is now a top aide to Gabbard, will be her campaign manager, CNN reported.
The 2020 presidential primary cycle is scheduled to kick off from the Iowa Caucuses on February 3, 2020, followed by the New Hampshire Primary on February 11, Nevada caucus of February 15 and South Carolina on February 22.
Among other Democrats speculated to run for the 2020 primaries include Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar and Tim Kaine.
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Karnataka power tussle: BJP leader calls Siddaramaiah 'Sultan for 15 days'
Bengaluru/Bagalkot (PTI): In the midst of the ongoing power tussle within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, senior BJP leader and MP Govind Karjol called CM Siddaramaiah "Pandrah din-ka-Sultan" (Sultan for 15 days), and said after that, he will not be the chief minister of the state.
Speculation has once again surfaced within the Congress party and political circles about a possible decision on leadership change and cabinet reshuffle after May 4, once the results for Assembly elections in four states and one union territory, along with bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in Karnataka, are announced.
"With the fight for the CM chair in the Congress, there seems to be no administration at Vidhana Soudha. The result for Siddaramaiah's CM chair fight will also be declared, along with election results for five states (four states and one union territory) and bypoll results for Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly seats in Karnataka," Karjol, a former Deputy CM, said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "As per today's information, Siddaramaiah is a Sardar for fifteen days, he is Pandrah din-ka-Sultan, after that Siddaramaiah will not be the chief minister of the state."
Stating that Shivakumar is ready to take up the top job, the MP said that this is the reason Siddaramaiah's supporters have gone to New Delhi to meet the Congress President.
"Already 40-odd legislators have lobbied in support of Siddaramaiah; about 50 are lobbying in support of Shivakumar. Amid this fight for the CM chair, the administration has completely collapsed," he said, urging the government to focus on addressing drinking water issues in various parts of the state amid summer by releasing at least Rs 50 crore per district.
PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Monday met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and General Secretary (in charge of Karnataka) Randeep Surjewala in New Delhi and requested them to address the speculation regarding the change of leadership in Karnataka.
Subsequently, Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa too met the party leadership in Delhi.
Both Jarkiholi and Mahadevappa are considered close to Siddaramaiah.
While MLAs and leaders who want Shivakumar to be elevated as CM have recently claimed they expect some "sweet news" by May 15, which is their leader's birthday.
Meanwhile, a team of 40 MLAs is preparing to visit New Delhi to press the Congress high command for a Cabinet reshuffle.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka hit out at the Congress leadership for indulging in "power tussle" instead of addressing the people's concerns. He called the government "anti-people" and "dead" to the people of the state.
With the fight for the CM chair, the ruling Congress in Karnataka seems to be shifting to Delhi. Congress MLAs are repeatedly touring Delhi, upset over the state leadership amid a power struggle between the CM and Deputy CM. This proves that there is no value for the state leadership," he said.
Pointing out that the Deputy CM Shivakumar was not present at the recent special cabinet meeting, which decided on internal reservation among SCs, the opposition leader said, "If the cabinet meeting was held purposely, despite knowing that Shivakumar was in Delhi, it proves that there are factions within the party"
"This government is dead in a way," he said, as he hit out at the Congress MLAs and Ministers, including Shivakumar, for doing "Delhi Yatras" instead of addressing drinking water issues in various parts of the state amid summer, picking up in the state.
