Supriya Jindal, wife of Indian-American Republican leader Bobby Jindal, has denied that her husband is in the race for 2012 US presidential elections, saying that he is concentrating on his re-election as the Governor of Louisiana in 2011.
In an interview to Meghan McCain and posted on The Daily Beast -- a popular American blog -- Supriya Jindal, 37, insisted that instead of talking about the 2012 presidential candidates, Americans should concentrate on the solving the problems being currently faced by the country.
Meghan is the daughter of Republican Senator John McCain, who lost to Barack Obama in the last year's presidential elections.
'It's very flattering, it's very nice,' Supriya said when asked about news reports that her husband would be leading the Republican Party in the 2012 presidential elections.
'But I think the party as a whole and the country as a whole needs to focus on solutions right now and not focus on who the next candidate's going to be. All of that needs to go by the wayside. We have dire problems going on in the country and we need to focus on that right now,' she said.
Bobby Jindal, the first Indian-American to be elected as a Governor of a US state, is right now focused on his job as the Louisiana Governor, she said.
'Bobby's focus always has been and should stay, and will stay, on Louisiana. That has to be his first priority and that is his first priority. So, all this talk is just talk going around. You know, we will see what happens but he is focused on his re-election in Louisiana and making a difference in our state,' she said.
When asked about the flak her husband has received for an 'unimpressive' speech in response to the Obama's address to the US Congress last month, Supriya said everyone has their right to have their own opinion, but Bobby, according to her, did a wonderful job.
'Everyone is entitled to their opinions and it's funny because everyone always tells him he speaks too fast and that night he tried to slow it down. And the criticism was that he talked too slow. My advice is just to concentrate on what is going on in Louisiana and don't listen to what everyone else is saying,' she said.
'I think the Republican Party needs to focus on innovative solutions and stop worrying who the leaders are and who the next this-and-that is. We need to focus on getting our priorities right with the problems the American people are facing. That's the way that you earn the respect of people across the country,' she said.
In the wide ranging interview, Supriya responded to questions from her first meeting with Bobby, the dates, the marriage, children, conversion to Christianity and her role as First Lady of Louisiana.
'Well, we met in high school. He was a sophomore in high school and I was a freshman and I didn't really know him. He tells me years later that he had a crush on me in the school. He would find out where my classes were and follow me. Hang out by my locker, that kind of stuff,' she said, recollecting her first few encounters with Bobby.
In response to another question about her three kids, she said: 'Well, you know, we share with our kids about their ancestors and why they decided to come to America, and they have created this wonderful life for themselves here. They were able to raise their children here.'
'Like we talked about earlier, they were able to create a better life for their children here than they had growing up. The reality is, is that we were raised as Americans. The American dream is alive and well and that is what we try and teach our children. We can do anything in America, especially in Louisiana. You can grow up to be an astronaut or whatever you want to be in this country. I think we instil it in that way with our family. It is not something we hide or aren't open about,' she said.
Bobby's quest for Christianity started after the death of his grandfather, she said.
'He began to question, well, where did he go? What happens when we die? Is he in heaven? He began to really study and understand what religion really was and what Christianity really was. He followed that path to conversion through his intellectual search,' Supriya said.
Whereas for her this was more of a spiritual search, she said.
'It was more of understanding why people convert, what makes them convert. Just reading stories, and talking to people about what lead them to their conversion to Christianity is what led my search. Yes, we raise our children as Christians. We go to church on the weekends. We say prayers every night,' she added.
