<p>Ever since news of Nikki's election as governor, the family of Pritam Singh Randhawa of Verka, a village near Amritsar, has been flooded with congratulatory messages.<br />"We are very happy at her success. She has brought laurels to the family and Punjabis. We hope that she visits Amritsar soon," Pritam Singh Randhawa, Nikki's 89-year-old uncle (father's elder brother), told IANS at his house in Verka.<br /><br />The Randhawas say they will be truly happy when Nikki comes to Punjab and offers prayers at the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines, to thank the almighty.<br />Born Nimrata (Nikki) Randhawa, Haley becomes the first woman chief executive of South Carolina state and the second Indian-American to become governor after Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Also a Republican, Jindal became governor three years ago.<br />Her parents migrated to the US in the 1960s. She came to Punjab only in 1975-76 when she was four years old.<br /><br />"It was because of her tiny size that she was fondly called Nikki - meaning tiny (small)," one family member said.<br /><br />Pritam's brother and Nikki's father, Ajit Singh, who worked as a teacher at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana in the 1950s, and mother Raj Randhawa, moved to the US in the 1960s.<br /><br />Members of the Randhawa family are now planning to seek US visas to be part of Nikki Haley's swearing-in Jan 1 next year.<br /><br />The 38-year-old mother of two, who defeated Democrat Vincent Sheheen with a close 51 percent-47 percent vote in the most expensive election in state history last Tuesday, has already, like Jindal, been mentioned as a "long shot" presidential candidate for 2012.<br />Jindal's family hailed from the Muslim-dominated Malerkotla town in Punjab and he still has several relatives there and in Ludhiana.<br /><br />Since his election as Louisiana governor in 2007, Jindal has not visited Punjab even though his relatives here were initially quite excited that he would.<br /><br />His relatives, uncles and cousins, run small businesses in Malerkotla and nearby areas. The Jindal family is Hindu though Bobby converted to Roman Catholicism many years ago.<br />Jindal, whose real name is Piyush Jindal, asked his parents to call him Bobby after the name of a character in the popular US television show, "The Brady Bunch".</p>
<p>Ever since news of Nikki's election as governor, the family of Pritam Singh Randhawa of Verka, a village near Amritsar, has been flooded with congratulatory messages.<br />"We are very happy at her success. She has brought laurels to the family and Punjabis. We hope that she visits Amritsar soon," Pritam Singh Randhawa, Nikki's 89-year-old uncle (father's elder brother), told IANS at his house in Verka.<br /><br />The Randhawas say they will be truly happy when Nikki comes to Punjab and offers prayers at the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines, to thank the almighty.<br />Born Nimrata (Nikki) Randhawa, Haley becomes the first woman chief executive of South Carolina state and the second Indian-American to become governor after Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Also a Republican, Jindal became governor three years ago.<br />Her parents migrated to the US in the 1960s. She came to Punjab only in 1975-76 when she was four years old.<br /><br />"It was because of her tiny size that she was fondly called Nikki - meaning tiny (small)," one family member said.<br /><br />Pritam's brother and Nikki's father, Ajit Singh, who worked as a teacher at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana in the 1950s, and mother Raj Randhawa, moved to the US in the 1960s.<br /><br />Members of the Randhawa family are now planning to seek US visas to be part of Nikki Haley's swearing-in Jan 1 next year.<br /><br />The 38-year-old mother of two, who defeated Democrat Vincent Sheheen with a close 51 percent-47 percent vote in the most expensive election in state history last Tuesday, has already, like Jindal, been mentioned as a "long shot" presidential candidate for 2012.<br />Jindal's family hailed from the Muslim-dominated Malerkotla town in Punjab and he still has several relatives there and in Ludhiana.<br /><br />Since his election as Louisiana governor in 2007, Jindal has not visited Punjab even though his relatives here were initially quite excited that he would.<br /><br />His relatives, uncles and cousins, run small businesses in Malerkotla and nearby areas. The Jindal family is Hindu though Bobby converted to Roman Catholicism many years ago.<br />Jindal, whose real name is Piyush Jindal, asked his parents to call him Bobby after the name of a character in the popular US television show, "The Brady Bunch".</p>