Sikh man leads Canadian party, in race to be Prime Minister
Thirty-eight-year-old lawyer Jagmeet Singh made history on Sunday as he became the first person belonging to a visible minority group, and obviously the first of Indian and Sikh heritage, to be elected leader of one of Canada’s three largest national political parties.
It was a whopping win, and a landslide. As the first ballot results were announced at the Metropolitan Ballroom in the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto, Singh easily garnered votes, surpassing the 50% required to win the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada.
He will now captain the NDP in the next federal election in October 2019.
In his acceptance speech, Singh described his win as “an incredibly profound honour”. He also announced the beginning of the 2019 race to lead Canada, as he said, “Canadians deserve a government that understands the struggles people are facing right now. Most importantly, Canadians deserve a government that gets the job done. That’s why today I’m officially launching my campaign to be the next prime minister of Canada.”
Cheers and applause broke out among NDP members who had gathered at the venue for the announcement of the result. Four candidates were in the race for the leadership, but as the numbers for the first three were announced, it became obvious Singh had managed to gather well over the percentage needed to prevent another round of balloting, which was scheduled for October 8. In the end, of the nearly 66,000 votes cast, Singh tallied more than 35,000, almost three times the total for the runner-up, Ontario MP Charlie Angus, who had 12,705 votes.
Singh, who was denied a visa by India in December 2013 and has been critical of the Narendra Modi government, is a member of the Ontario provincial parliament, representing Bramalea-Gore-Malton.
This was his maiden foray into federal politics. Since his constituency lies in a suburb of Toronto, the majority of those packing the hall appeared to be his supporters, who waved the orange placards bearing the slogan, “Love & Courage”, the theme of his campaign.
He reiterated it while speaking after winning the vote, as he said his vision offered “the courage to fight the politics of fear, a politics of love to fight the growing politics of division”.
Singh attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, talking about job insecurity and accusing him of being someone who had only looked at “employment as a hobby”. He also spoke of prevalent racism, underscoring exactly how momentous this victory was: “Growing up with brown skin, long hair and a funny sounding name meant I faced some challenges. I’ve been stopped by the police multiple times for no other reason than the colour of my skin.”
BARNALA: It was celebration time at Thikriwal village of Barnala district on Monday after Jagmeet Singh, aka Jimmy Dhaliwal, having ancestral roots in this village, was elected the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, becoming the first non-white politician to head a major political party in the country.
Members of the local Evergreen Society organised a thanksgiving “ardaas” at the village gurdwara to celebrate his success. The villagers will also join the Sukhmani Sahib paath on Tuesday at the gurdwara.
Gurtej Singh, a professor at Guru Kashi College of Sikh Studies, Talwandi Sabo, said: “Jagmeet is great grandson of Hira Singh, who was cousin of Sewa Singh Thikriwala, the founder of Praja Mandal movement in the Punjab.”
“Jagmeet had visited Punjabi University in 2013 to interact with students. These days, none of Jagmeet’s relatives live in Thikriwal,” said Gurtej.
A villager, Nardev Singh Aulakh, said: “We have never seen Jagmeet, but we feel elated that someone whose ancestors belonged to this village is leading a political party in Canada. We are proud of his success.”
AAP CONGRATULATES, INVITES JAGMEET
CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday congratulated Jagmeet Singh on getting elected as the leader of Canada’s NDP.
In a statement here, Punjab assembly leader of opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira said Jagmeet had made “Indians, Punjabis and the Sikhs proud” by becoming the leader of a political party in a “developed country”.
“His well-deserved victory in a four-cornered contest showed his ability as an upcoming leader of Canada,” he said.
Khaira applauded the “transparent and meritorious” system of Canada “where people get to choose their leader”.
He also saluted the citizens of Canada, “particularly the white people”, for putting faith in a PunjabiSikhimmigrant.Heextended an invitation to Jagmeet to visit his home state of Punjab.
VICTORY FOR ALL SIKHS, SAYS SUKHBIR
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal too congratulated Jagmeet Singh. In a statement here, the SAD president said Jagmeet had created history by heading a political party in a country away from homeland, and clinched this coveted post of NDP leader in the first round of voting by a huge margin.
Terming it a victory for the Sikhs across the world who firmly believe in values of brotherhood, equality and diversity, Sukhbir said being a lawyer and a provincial legislator, Jagmeet has been upholding all these values in his personal as well as professional life. HTC