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End navel gazing: Jindal

Washington: Indian-American Bobby Jindal, rising star of the Republicans, has asked his partymen to end their “navel gazing” over the 2008 election debacle and don the role as the opposition to President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party.

“Let’s agree on this tonight, the time for talking about the past is now over,” Mr. Jindal (37), charismatic Governor of Louisiana, told 1,200 people attending a House GOP fundraiser here on Wednesday; same time when Mr. Obama was addressing his second post-election press conference at the White House.

“It has been healthy for Republicans to look in the mirror. It has been healthy for us to realise and admit the mistakes of the past. We have done that quite a bit. I personally have done that quite a bit since the election last fall. It’s now been close to five months since the last election,” he said at the $ 2,500-per-plate dinner.

The Republican leader is widely considered a potential 2012 Grand Old Party (GOP) presidential candidate.Mr. Jindal credited his former colleagues for standing united in opposing Mr. Obama’s policies. “Thanks primarily to the Republicans in the House of Representatives, the Republican Party has once again decided to be the conservative party in this country,” said Mr. Jindal. Mr. Jindal, who served two terms in the U.S. House, returned to Washington to help his former colleagues raise more than $6 million for the 2010 midterm elections. So far, Mr. Jindal has sidestepped questions about his contesting the 2012 elections. But on Wednesday he seemed to be laying the groundwork in case he eventually decides the political climate is right, CNN reported. — PTI

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