Bobby Jindal plays 'religious card' to rope in GOP base for 2016 run

Indian-origin Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, at a recent private dinner narrated his conversion story to politically active pastors.

According to the Washington Post, a dozen politically active pastors came here for a private dinner Friday night to hear a conversion story unique in the context of presidential politics: how Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal traveled from Hinduism to Protestant Christianity and, ultimately, became what he calls an "evangelical Catholic."

Jindal recalled how he was struck hard after watching a movie during his senior year that depicted Jesus on the cross and how he would secretly read the Bible without his parent's knowledge.

After listening to his stories, Brad Sherman of Solid Rock Christian Church in Coralville, Iowa, who helped former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in his winning 2008 campaign for delegates in Iowa, said that Jindal has the convictions, and he has what it takes to communicate them.

Another Huckabee admirer, the Rev. C. Mitchell Brooks of Second Baptist Church in Belton, S.C., said Jindal's commitment to Christian values and his compelling story put him "on a par" with Huckabee, who was a Baptist preacher before entering politics, the report added.