Indian-American sworn in as Louisiana governor

By Russell McCulley

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - Republican Bobby Jindal was sworn in on Monday as governor of Louisiana to become the first Indian-American elected head of a U.S. state.

The Oxford-educated conservative vowed in a speech at the state capitol to clean up Louisiana's notorious political corruption and to speed up the state's recovery from hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

"In our past, too many of our politicians looked out for themselves," said Jindal, who is the state's first non-white governor since Reconstruction in the 1870s. "We must win a war on corruption and incompetence in government."

Jindal, 36, was in his second term as a U.S. congressman when won the governorship in an October election in his second try for the office.

Democrat Kathleen Blanco defeated Jindal in the 2003 gubernatorial race, but did not seek a second term when her support plummeted after the government's stumbling rescue and recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina.

The storm flooded most of New Orleans, where hundreds died and chaos broke out as stranded flood victims waited days for help. Many residents who fled Katrina have not returned.

Jindal urged storm exiles to return home and "make Louisiana's rebirth your own priority."

He said the hurricanes provided a chance to build a better Louisiana.