PM Modi wishes Justin Trudeau on his victory in Canadian elections, hopes to bolster ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, 22 September, congratulated Canadian premier Justin Trudeau for returning to power. On Tuesday, Canada’s Liberal Party held onto power in a nail-biting election, and now Trudeau is again set to take the oath for the third time. In a tweet, PM Modi congratulated his Canadian counterpart and said that he is looking forward to continuing working with his administration to further strengthen ties between the two nations. 

Trudeau became the PM of Canada in 2015 and he has now won for the third time. However, in the repeat of the 2019 polls, his Liberal Party did not bag enough seats to form a majority government. As per the latest media reports, Liberal Party won or was leading with 156 seats and conservatives were trailing at 123 in the 338-member House of Commons. In a bid to form a clear majority government, a party should have at least 170 seats. Back in 2019, Liberals had 157 seats while the Conservatives secured 121. 

Following his win, Trudeau said, “Thank you, Canada — for casting your vote, for putting your trust in the Liberal team, for choosing a brighter future. We're going to finish the fight against COVID. And we're going to move Canada forward. For everyone.”

17 India-origin leaders re-elected 

Meanwhile, Liberal Party’s win has paved the path of success for as many as 17 Indian-origin Canadians, including NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. Jagmeet Singh won from Burnaby South seat and he won by nearly 40 per cent vote share. Harjit Sajjan again won the Vancouver-South seat with 49 per cent of the vote share. He secured even more votes than his last decisive victory.

Anand, who is currently holding the post of vaccine minister, won the seat of Oakville with a nearly 46 per cent 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”. 

(Image: AP/PTI)