Five months after announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal ended his presidential campaign on Tuesday.
In a statement released by his campaign, the 44-year-old said it was “an honor,” to be part of the process but “this is not my time, so I am suspending my campaign for President.”
Jindal added that he will begin “outlining a blue print for making this the American century.” He also paid homage to his parents who have migrated from the India state of Punjab and their struggle in the adopted home country.
“When I was born, we lived in student housing at LSU, and never in their wildest dreams did [my parents] think their son would have the opportunity to serve as Governor of Louisiana or to run for President,” Jindal wrote.
“They raised me to believe Americans can do anything, and they were right, we can. But this is not my time, so I am suspending my campaign for President.”
“One of the things I will do is go back to work at the think tank I started a few years ago – where I will be outlining a blueprint for making this the American century,” the former US Congressman added.
Jindal entered the presidential race in June, and said that he will pledge to “rock the boat” in Washington. But his campaign failed to make much headway and remained a relatively irrelevant candidate in the Republican pack, which has the likes of outspoken and hugely popular profiles like Ben Carson, Donald Trump besides Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, etc.
By withdrawing before the party primaries, Jindal thus joined the likes of Governor of Texas Rick Perry and Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker to have thrown in the towel.
Jindal has served as Louisiana’s governor since 2008, and is popular amongst the local community for overseeing the mass evacuation of his state’s coastal areas during Hurricane Gustav in his first year in office.
Known as one of the vocal opponents of business mogul and GOP candidate Donald Trump, Jindal is often compared to a wonk, focusing mainly on social issues. But his low poll standing is attributed more to his hard-line conservative stand on pressing issues like climate change, and proposing to include creationism in school curricula.
