“If you want to get rid of these party politics, then vote independent,” Vikram Bajwa, who is running for Surrey mayor, told the LINK on Thursday. “By doing so you will give a real voice to Surrey and send a strong message to political parties who are pulling the strings of candidates like Barinder Rasode and Linda Hepner.”
By R. Paul Dhillon
SURREY — British Columbia Peoples Party president Vikram Bajwa, who is running for mayor in Surrey, is hoping that people choose to vote for an independent candidate like him to teach other candidates who are backed by established political parties or other interests like land developers and so on.
“If you want to get rid of these party politics, then vote independent,” Bajwa told the LINK on Thursday. “By doing so you will give a real voice to Surrey and send a strong message to political parties who are pulling the strings of candidates like Barinder Rasode and Linda Hepner.”
It is well known that Rasode is being backed by some BC Liberals players but she also received the endorsement of NDP MLAs, including former NDP Minister Moe Sihota who has been a vocal supporter of Rasode. She is also backed by former Conservative senator Gerry St. Germain, who was at Rasode’s mayoral announcement.
So who is really pulling her strings?
Bajwa says he would like to know who is really behind her.
“Why doesn’t Barinder make her stand clear on this issue of who’s really backing her instead of hiding behind all the political parties,” Bajwa said. “The same goes for Linda. She should really come out as Conservative as she has a lot of backing from the federal Conservatives due to former mayor Dianne Watts who will be running for the party in the next federal election.
“Surrey First has left no doubts on their credentials of supporting conservatives. The bottom line here is to defeat the conservatives in Surrey.”
Bajwa’s platform is in hopes of representing the city’s largely South Asian community, saying that Surrey First “has under-represented the multiculture of Surrey.”
“By me standing in these civic elections, our Indo-Canadian politics have been brought out of the Gurdwaras and Mandirs and into the mainstream democratic politics, leaving behind religious politics,” Bajwa said. “We have opened the door for our younger generation to come into the mainstream politics.”
Bajwa first ran for mayor in 2011 against incumbent Dianne Watts.
