Congressman Suhash Subramanyam takes oath on Gita

PTI, Jan 7, 2025, 12:39 PM IST

Washington: Congressman Suhash Subramanyam, who is the first Indian American Congressman from the East Coast, took oath of office on Gita, making him possibly the only lawmaker to do so on the holy Hindu book.

Subramanyam’s mother, who immigrated through Dulles Airport, watched her son being sworn-in on the Bhagavad Gita.

Tulsi Gabbard, 43, the first Hindu American to be ever elected to the US House of Representatives, was the first lawmaker to take the oath on Gita. She was first sworn on January 3, 2013 representing the second Congressional District of Hawaii as a member of the House of Representatives.

Gabbard, who converted to Hinduism as a teenager, is now a nominee for the powerful position of Director of National Intelligence.

“My parents got to see me sworn in as the first Indian American and South Asian Congressman from Virginia,” Subramanya said in a statement after his swearing in.

“If you had told my mother when she landed in Dulles Airport from India that her son would go on to represent Virginia in the United States Congress, she might have not believed you, but my story is the kind of promise that America holds. I am honored to be the first, but not the last, as I represent Virginia’s 10th in Congress,” he said.

A former policy advisor to ex-president Barack Obama, he has served in the Virginia General Assembly since first getting elected in 2019. In Richmond, Subramanyam founded the bipartisan “Commonwealth Caucus” – a bipartisan group of legislators focused on finding common ground.

He passed landmark legislation to lower toll costs for commuters, issue refunds to overcharged consumers, combat the rise in gun violence, and ensure all students have access to top-notch education.

The 119th Congress has four Hindu lawmakers. The other three being Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna and Shri Thanedar. Hindus and Muslims are a distant third largest religious group in the US Congress. Christians with 461 members constitute the largest religious group followed by Jews with 32 members. There are three Buddhist members as well.

According to Pew Research, Christians make up 87 per cent of voting members in the Senate and House of Representatives combined in the 2025-27 congressional session. That’s down from 88 per cent in the last session and 92 per cent a decade ago.