Candidate disqualified after opposing India court ruling
An Alberta Party candidate will not be allowed to run in the next provincial election after he attended an event critical of an Indian supreme court ruling which lifted a ban on women of child-bearing age at a Hindu temple.
In a statement released Monday evening, the party said its provincial board, including leader Stephen Mandel, had voted unanimously earlier in the day to disqualify Edmonton Ellerslie candidate Yash Sharma. The statement says the vote came after the party learned Sharma had attended and supported last weekend’s event. Alberta Party president Rhiannon Hoyle says the candidate’s comments and conduct don’t reflect the party’s values.
Executive director Mark Taylor says the party became aware of Sharma’s presence at the event via a video on a Facebook site.
Taylor, who does not know the nature of the gathering, says the video was “absolutely a complete surprise” to the party.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Sharma apologized for his actions. Last month, India’s highest court struck down the centuries-old religious ban on women from 10 to 50 years of age from entering Sabarimala Temple, ruling that they should be able to pray wherever they wish.