File photo of Bobby Jindal (Reuters)
Indian-American US Presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal has accused a section of American media of using "unfair" debate criteria, saying the networks by ignoring the early primary states and using only national popularity ratings are in effect creating a national primary.
Mr Jindal wants the popularity ratings in the first few primary states to be included as the criteria, while CNBC network like other debates is using the national popularity ratings to determine the qualifications of a candidate to participate in the third Republican presidential debate on October 27.
"By ignoring the early states and instead only looking at meaningless national name ID polls, the networks are in effect trying to create a national primary. They are attempting to winnow the field long before the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire get to cast their ballots by restricting access to debates," he alleged.
Mr Jindal who was campaigning in Iowa yesterday lashed out at the CNBC for its alleged "unfair" debate criteria.
"Two weeks ago, I was surprised to learn that the criteria for participating in the upcoming RNC-sanctioned presidential debate do not take into account performance in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire," he said.
"No candidate for President has won the nomination of my party without winning in either Iowa or New Hampshire in the modern era, and I suspect that pattern will continue this year. I've been gaining ground and campaigning hard in the state where Republicans will cast the first real votes for President in 2016: Iowa," Mr Jindal said.
Meanwhile, the Louisiana Governor seems to have hit a lean patch, as far his financial condition during the Presidential campaign is concerned.
The poor fund-raising performance by Jindal in the third quarter has prompted Louisiana's The Times Picayune to conclude that his campaign is struggling to keep up with expenses.
At the end of third quarter, Jindal has just USD 261,000 left in his kitty. In fact during this period of July 1 and September 30, he raised less than the amount he spent (USD 579,000 against USD 832,000).
"The Louisiana governor is arguably in a weaker financial position than former candidates Rick Perry and Scott Walker were before they quit the race last month," The Hill reported.
However Jindal's campaign appeared to be on a high ground. In the key battle ground of Iowa, Mr Jindal is tied fifth.
"This is an election not an auction. We are running a lean mean campaign. We are tied for 5th right now in Iowa and plan to win it on February 1st," his campaign press secretary Shannon Dirmann said.
On the debate criteria, Mr Jindal said, "The primary beneficiary of this process is Donald Trump, a candidate completely devoid of substance, but a candidate who is well known nationally for his TV show and his juvenile antics. What he lacks in depth or seriousness he more than makes up for with national name recognition from his long career as an entertainer".