Meet Jagmeet Singh - the first Sikh in leadership race of a national political party in Canada

Brampton: Jagmeet Singh, the deputy leader of Ontario's New Democratic Party, on Monday night threw his hat in the ring and declared himself a candidate for the leadership of the national party in Canada.

With this, Ontario legislator Jagmeet Singh has become the first Sikh to do so.

Addressing a gathering at an event hosted at restaurant `Bombay Palace` in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, the 38-year-old member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament representing Bramalea-Gore-Malton said: “People are hungry for new leadership in this country, they are hungry for new leadership in our party… a leadership that will bring people to build a Canada that is truly inclusive for everyone to realize their dreams.”

“That’s why today I am proud to announce that I am running to be the leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada," announced Singh amid shouts of “Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal”.

Notably, the NDP is one of the three major national parties in Canada.

Born in Scarborough (Ontario), Singh, a lawyer by training, said in an event that was also live-streamed on Facebook that he sought to build “a Canada that is inclusive and where everyone can realise their dreams.”

“That’s what drove me to law, that’s what drove me to public life and that’s what drove me to be your leader and that’s what drove me to be your next prime minister,” said the first turban-wearing Sikh to sit in Ontario's legislature.

Lashing out at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Singh said, “We’ve had enough of empty promises and we’re ready to get the job done.”

Jagmeet Singh, who had moved a motion in the Ontario Assembly in 2016 to have the 1984 anti-Sikh riots termed `genocide`, is likely to be the only elected representative in the Western world to have been denied a visa to India, reported Hindustan Times.