Punjabi flavour to Canadian poll, 40 candidates in the fray

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 6

A good number of Punjabis, who are usually identified as Indo-Canadians, are trying their luck in the Canadian Federal General Elections for which the polling will be held on October 19 to elect members of the House of Commons.

“There is a lot of Punjabi tadka in the Canadian elections. However, there is lot of difference in the style of campaigning in Canada and India,” said a Punjabi politician in the election fray. A number of new Indo-Canadian faces were in the election fray this time, he said.

Sources said there were about 40 Punjabi candidates, including some sitting MPs and ministers, in the fray in the 2015 elections in Canada. Three main political parties—the Conservatives, the Liberals and the New Democratic Party (NDP)—have put up candidates of Punjabi origin mainly in cities such as Brampton, Surrey, Calgary and Edmonton.

The number of seats in the House has gone up from 308 to 338 this time. Pre-poll surveys indicate that the New Democratic Party is ahead of others.

One of the prominent faces in the poll fray is Bal Gosal, a minister who is contesting as a candidate of the Conservatives Party from the Brampton Centre constituency. The Liberals have put up Rameshwar Sangha against him.

Another minister, Tim Uppal, is contesting from Edmonton Millwoods. The Liberals have put up Amarjeet Kohli to oppose him.

The hottest electoral battle among Punjabis is said to be in the Surrey Newton constituency where Sukh Dhaliwal of the Liberals, Harpreet Singh of the Conservatives and sitting MP Jinny Sims of the NDP are in the fray.

The NDP has put up Harbaljit Kahlon form Brampton East, Martin Singh from Brampton North and Amarjit Singh from Brampton South constituencies. It has put up Sahajvir Singh Randhawa from Calgary Skyview, Jasbir Deol from Edmonton Millwoods, Bill Sundhu from Kamploop, Jasbir Sandhu from Surrey Centre, Amardeep Nijjar from Vancouver South.

The Liberals have put up Raj Grewal from Brampton East, Sonia Sidhu form Brampton South, Kamal Khera from Brampton and Raj Saini from Kltchender Centre. Navdeep Bains is its candidate from Mississauga Malton. The other candidates put up by the Liberals include Darshan Kang, Joti Sidhu, Sukh Dhaliwal, Anju Dhillon and Gagan Sikand.

The candidates put up by the Conservatives include Nina Grewal, Harpreet Singh, Sucha Thind, Devinder Shory, Deepak Oberai, Jagdish Grewal and Ravinder Malhi.