A first: SC nominated to UK deputy mayor’s post
Friday, 16/05/2014
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=102927&boxid=59089&uid=&dat=2014-05-16
Jalandhar : Punjabis abroad have emerged with flying colours in every field and adding another feather to their kitty was the achievement of an NRI from Doaba belt who has become the first ever Scheduled Caste (SC) Deputy Mayor of Gravesham in the UK.
In a first, UK-based NRI councillor Gurdip Bungar, hailing from Palahi village near Phagwara, has become the first-ever Scheduled Caste (SC) Deputy Mayor of Gravesham in the UK.
Bungar was unanimously elected as the Deputy Mayor of Gravesham during the Annual Full Council Meeting held on May 13.
The meeting was attended by over 300 dignitaries, councillors and members of the public.
NRI Bungar has become the second Punjabi after leading Sikh leader Tanmanjit Singh Dhesi to head a top post in the UK government.
While Dhesi, a resident of Jalandhar is the candidate for the UK General polls 2015 from Gravesham, Bungar has become the Deputy Mayor from the same city.
The previous Deputy Mayor councillor John Caller was elected as the new Mayor of Gravesham and councillor Bungar was nominated as the new Deputy Mayor.
While nominating Bungar, councillor John Burden, the Leader of the Council, highlighted that Gravesham has had three Sikh mayors in the past (all from the Labour Party) namely Makhan Singh, Narinderjit Singh Thandi and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi.
“However, this is the first time Gravesham has had a Mayor or Deputy Mayor emanating from Guru Ravidas Gurudwara on Brandon Street. This should be a source of great pride, not only for the Sikh community, but for the whole of the wider Gravesham Community,” Caller said in his message.
Labour Party’s candidate for MP from Gravesham for next year’s Parliamentary election, councillor Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, said, “Councillor Bungar deserves this high honour. He has been working very hard for the whole community during the last three years as a councillor, which is why he was unanimously elected by all the councillors.
Bungar was a well-known community figure and I am sure he and his wife, Nanjo Kaur, will do a tremendous job as the Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress of Gravesham.”
Councillor Bungar reached Gravesend in 1961, where he has lived for over 50 years.
