New Delhi: Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who has virtually surpassed senator Kamala Harris in announcing that she would run for the White House in 2020 to take on the incumbent Donald Trump has become the first-ever Hindu to run for the US presidency.

Here is knowing her more:

  • Born in the US territory of American Samoa, Gabbard has become the first-ever Hindu to run for the presidency in the US.

  • She converted to Hinduism early in her life, is highly popular among Indian-Americans.

  • If she is elected, (though political pundits predict against her), she would be the youngest-ever  President of the US.  She would also be the first-woman President of the US. She would also be the first non-Christian and first Hindu to occupy the top post.

  • In 2012 she became the first Hindu elected to the US Congress.

  • She is the first member of congress to be born in the US territory covering seven South Pacific islands.

  • 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.

  • She supported Senator Bernie Sanders against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary.

  • In 2010, she returned to office as a member of the Hawaii City Council. Gabbard comes from a multicultural, multi-religious family and is a practising Hindu.

  • She is an Iraq War veteran.

  • She has been considered a “rising star” within the Democratic Party, US media reports say.