Jalandhar man is first Sikh Norwich Mayor

A native of Jalandhar, Swaranjit Singh Khalsa (40), has become the first Sikh to get elected as the Mayor of Norwich in the US.

A Democrat, Khalsa had been elected in the city council in 2021. This time, he was among the three candidates in the fray for the mayoral polls, including Republican Tracy Gould and unaffiliated Marcia Wilbur. A baptised Sikh, Khalsa now represents the city which has just 10 other Sikh families.

Norwich Mayor is the son of Parminderpal Singh Khalsa, who represents the Sikh International Society. The proud father shared the feat of his son on his social media pages today. Sharing about his son's journey to the US, Parminderpal said, "Swaranjit was a student of engineering from DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology in Jalandhar. He had moved to the US on study visa. He did his Masters in computer science from the US. He got married to a Sikh woman, originally hailing from Ludhiana and, since then, is settled in Norwich."

Khalsa runs a construction business there and remains engaged in social and political activities there. He has been a member of the Board of Education and for equity and cultural awareness.

Norwich falls in Connecticut, which is the southernmost state in the New England region of the US. It has the highest per capita income in the US.