Tulsi Gabbard might become first Hindu-American in Congress

Tulsi Gabbard, one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party, will speak at the national convention this week.

The 31-year-old Iraq War veteran is running for a congressional seat in Hawaii, and if elected would become the first Hindu-American in Congress.

According to the Associated Press, Gabbard will take part in a segment led by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, titled "The Women of the House," which will include six congresswomen and two candidates.

Her campaign website says Gabbard was born in Leloaloa, American Samoa and moved with her family to Hawaii when she was two. She graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a degree in International Business and was elected to the Hawaii state legislature in 2002.

In 2004, Gabbard volunteered to deploy to Iraq for the first of her two deployments.

The AP noted that Gabbard planned to focus on the sacrifices of military members during her speech at the DNC.

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Gabbard resigned from the Honolulu City Council after winning the Democratic primary in the House race in August, and is expected to win easily against the Republican candidate in November, according to the AP.

The Press Trust of India noted that California Attorney General Kamala Harris was the only Indian American in the list of speakers at the DNC besides Gabbard.

Gabbard said in an interview earlier, "I had the opportunity to study both Lord Krishna’s Bhagavad Gita and also the New Testament. And like Mahatma Gandhi, who also studied both the Gita and the teachings of Jesus Christ, I saw that the central message of both is that we can only be truly happy if we are using our life in the loving service of God and humanity. That is what I am trying to do in my life–to actually apply the universal spiritual teaching of Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga," according to PTI.

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