Desis in UK polls hit new high |
An 18-year-old Alevel candidate, a scholar from Jadavpur University who landed in Britain in 2009 are among the many `desi` faces on the ballot paper as UK votes on June 8 amidst one of the fiercest debates on immigration and minority community in decades. If a record number of 10 Indian-origin candidates were elected to the British Parliament in 2015, the 2017 snap polls have an impressive number of 56 Indian-origin candidates contesting. Defending comfortable margins are the Indian-origin veterans, including Priti Patel, Alok Sharma, Keith Vaz, Virendra Sharma and Shailesh Vara, all well-known MPs with sizeable majorities. Though Vaz was embroiled in a prostitution and drugs scandal in 2016, he is expected to retain his seat with a large majority. Candidates to watch on the night are Paul Uppal, 49, Conservative nominee in Wolverhampton South West. He needs to overturn the 2015 majority of just 801 votes to return to the House of Commons as MP. It will be Labour candidate Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi`s first time as MP if he manages to keep the Slough seat, held by Labour`s Fiona Mactaggart since 1997. Another Sikh with chances of winning is Kuldip Singh Sahota, 66, a Labour local councillor contesting in Telford. A win in Birmingham Edgbaston will make Labour`s Preet Kaur Gill the first Sikh woman MP in the House.
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