Jindal to be Republican presidential candidate in 2012?

Indian-American Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal has been invited to deliver a key-note address to the national fundraising of the Republican Party.

For the last eight years, the key-note address at this fundraiser had been delivered by former US President George W Bush religiously every year after he became the President in the year 2000. The event will be held in March.

Jindal, 37, is now considered a rising star of the Republican Party, which is desperately looking for a dynamic and charismatic personality to lead the party in the 2012 presidential elections.

Congressman Pete Sessions from Texas, who is the chairman of National Republican Congressional Committee, announced on Friday that Jindal has been invited to deliver the key-note address at this fundraising dinner scheduled to be held on March 24 in Washington.

"Bobby is a rising star and is a part of a new generation of leadership in our party," Sessions said on Friday in an email written to the donors.

"He has a budding record of success, having implemented sound, common sense business practices since he took office in 2007 and started rebuilding his great state," Sessions said.

In December, Jindal had delivered a keynote address at a conservative group's dinner in the Iowa State, which is considered to be the presidential battleground, fuelling the speculation that the Louisianan Governor is eyeing the 2012 elections.

As the news about Jindal addressing the key Republican fundraiser broke out, the US media speculated that the party is gearing to project Jindal as the nominee for the 2012 presidential elections.

Jindal, for his part, has always denied that he is in the running for the 2012 elections and said he would concentrate on the development of Louisiana, which has been badly hit by the devastating hurricane Katrina a few years ago.