October 21 :
Even though most of their notable candidates, such as Rachna Singh (Minister of Education and Child Welfare) and Aman Singh (the first turbaned Sikh to sit in the British Columbia Assembly), lost, candidates of Indian descent won a record-breaking fifteen seats. Never before have members of India's diaspora performed so admirably in provincial elections. This marks a first: a number of successful candidates in double digits.
In light of the fact that the outgoing ruling party was ahead in the polls with 46 seats and the Conservatives, who had their greatest showing ever in the British Columbia provincial elections, were ahead with 45 seats, the Green Party, which is in second place, could end up playing middle man. In order to secure a stable majority in the 93-member House, the New Democratic Party or the Conservatives will need to rely on the Green Party to obtain the crucial 47 seats.
Interestingly, out of 243 candidates for the British Columbia Provincial Parliament, nearly one-eighth were of Indian background. Out of the new parliament, one-sixth will be of Indian descent. Winners included Ravi Kahlon, who competed in two Olympics; Nikki Sharma, who became the first woman of Indian descent to hold the position of attorney general in the province; Raj Chauhan, who became the first South Asian to hold the office of speaker; and Jagrup Brar, who played basketball for India in the past.
Surprise winner Mandeep Dhaliwal, a former Kabaddi player, beat Rachna Singh, a candidate from Punjab, in a close race. Nikki Sharma, Ravi Kahlon, Mandeep Dhaliwal, Jody Toor, Reah Arora, Raj Chauhan, Ravi Parmar, Harman Bhangu, Amna Shah, Jagrup Brar, H.S. Randhawa, Jessie Sunner, Harwinder Sandhu, Steve Kooner, and Sunita Dhir are among the Indian-origin candidates who were elected in the most recent election.
The newly crowned champions hail from the national governing NDP as well as the major opposition Conservative Party. The new British Columbia Provincial Parliament (Assembly) has fifteen members, ten of whom represent the New Democratic Party and the other four as Conservatives. The BC Conservatives have never before won this many seats in provincial elections, hence it is also a record performance. In two of the ridings, Surrey North and Surrey Newton, all of the competitors were of Indian descent.
Along with the winner, Jessie Sunner, other competitors in Surrey Newton included broadcaster Tegjot Bal, Japreet Lehal, Joginder Singh Randhawa, and Amrit Birring. Mandeep Dhaliwal shocked a sitting minister, Rachna Singh, in Surrey North; Kiran Hundal, Hobby Nijjar, and Sam Sandhu were also among the competitors. By the way, among the successful candidates are three sportsmen - Ravi Kahlon, Jagrup Brar, and Mandeep Dhaliwal - who are all of Punjabi heritage.
