Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) took the oath of office on a Bhagavad Gita at her swearing-in in January 2013. ( J. Scott Applewhite/AP ) When Rep. Tulsi Gabbard first ran for Congress in 2012 from her home state of Hawaii, her Republican opponent, David “Kawika” Crowley, ridiculed the observant Hindu for subscribing to a religion that “doesn’t align with the constitutional foundation of the U.S.