Jindal dismisses US vice president nomination rumours

Dismissing speculation that he could be the Republican candidate for vice president, Bobby Jindal, the Indian-origin Governor of Louisiana, has said such rumours were 'flattering' but he was happy with his current job and was keen to run for a second term.

"I've got the job I want," Jindal, who at age 36 is the youngest governor in the United States, said on NBC's popular The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Talk of Jindal being vice presidential candidate for the November polls began earlier this year and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain's visit to New Orleans on Thursday set the tongues wagging again.

"He's (McCain) not going to ask (to be his running mate)," Jindal, who spent Thursday morning with McCain in New Orleans, said in Monroe.

"It's flattering that my name has been raised, but this is a historic time in Louisiana and I want to be a part of it," he said.

"I told the people of Louisiana this is a historic opportunity to fix our state. I want to be involved in doing that," Jindal told Leno.

A son of immigrants from Punjab, he is also the US' first Indian-American governor and could bring diversity to the Republican ticket.

But at the show aired on Monday, Jindal said commenting on such speculation was "like saying 'I'm not going with that pretty girl to the prom' before she asks you".

"I want to be Governor of Louisiana. If they let me, I'd like to run for re-election," he said.

During his tour, McCain said he will "rely on Governor Jindal for many, many things in the future," but would not comment on the selection process of a running mate.