WASHINGTON, Oct 21: The son of Punjabi immigrants won an election in Louisiana to become the first Indian-American US state governor, media reports said on Sunday.

Piyush ‘Bobby’ Jindal, 36, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, is also the first non-white to hold the post since the 1870s and the nation’s youngest governor.

“My mom and dad came to this country in the pursuit of the American dream. And guess what happened? They found the American dream to be a alive and well right here in Louisiana,” Jindal told a cheering crowd, in a televised speech after his victory.

He won 53 per cent of the vote with more than 90 per cent of votes counted, said The Advocate newspaper in the state capital Baton Rouge. His nearest challenger had just 18 per cent. The score meant Jindal avoided a runoff election and would be sworn in as governor in January.

In 2004, Jindal became the second Indian-American to be elected to the US Congress. Some analysts blamed racism for his narrow 2003 loss in the Louisiana governorship race to Kathleen Blanco, a white moderate Democrat.

Blanco did not contend the race following a backlash at her administration’s response to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster and there had been no other strong opponents on the field.—AFP