Canada: 17 Indian-origin leaders reelected in recently concluded Parliamentary polls

As Canadians gave Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party another chance in the Parliament, it has also paved the path of success for as many as 17 Indian-origin Canadians, including NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. Though the critics claimed the 49-year-old Trudeau has failed to garner his dream number and nearly mirrored the result from two years ago in the recently concluded parliamentary polls, he is again set to take the oath for the third time. According to Canadian media reports, his party secured the most seats as compared to other political organisations. The media reports claimed that his party were leading or elected in 156 seats one less than they won in 2019, and 14 short of the 170 needed for a majority in the House of Commons.

Meanwhile, Jagmeet Singh, while congratulating the 49-year-old Trudeau said he would "keep fighting to make sure that the super-wealthy pay their fair share". "We're gonna fight for you. We've seen you. We've heard your stories. We're going to fight for you," added Jagmeet, who won from Burnaby South seat. According to media reports, he won by nearly 40 per cent vote share. "I want to say that Canadians know that you can count on the New Democrats to continue fighting for you. As we've fought for you in the pandemic when times are difficult when people were struggling when people were worried about their future. We were there for you," Jagmeet Singh said in his concession speech late on Monday night.

Despite facing serious allegations, Harjit Sajjan secures top berth in polls

Canada's incumbent Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has again won the Vancouver-South seat with 49% of the vote share. Notably, Sajjan secured even more votes than his last decisive victory. It is worth mentioning that the defence minister was re-elected despite facing serious allegations of not dealing with the Afghanistan issue properly. "My community knows me," he said. "When we talk about things that happened 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago, obviously we're going to take action. And now that more women are coming forward, having the confidence to come forward, yes we're taking action."

Meanwhile, Anand, who is currently holding the post of vaccine minister, won the seat of Oakville with a nearly 46% vote share. According to City News Toronto, Anand was a rookie MP after winning in 2019 when she was appointed. "I'm just ecstatic," she said, thanking the volunteers who had worked "extremely hard as a team for five weeks straight," she was quoted as saying by the Oakville News. Among other winners from the Liberal Party are Kamal Khera from Brampton West (55%), Ruby Sahota from Brampton North (54%), Sonia Sidhu from Brampton South (50%), Maninder Sidhu from Brampton East (55%), Sukh Dhaliwal from Surrey-Newton (54%).

(With inputs from PTI)

(Image: Twitter/@theJagmeetSingh)