California-based NRI Kirpal Singh Sahota elected NRI Sabha president
363 NRIs cast their votes out of total 22,923 voters

Sahota bagged 260 votes of the total 363 in the NRI Sabha polls

Los Angeles, March 07, 2020
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh

California, US based NRI  Kirpal Singh Sihota, a resident of village Bara Pind, has been elected president of the NRI Sabha, Punjab, defeating his nearest rival Jasbir Singh Shergill by a margin of 160 votes here on Saturday.

A total of 22,923 voters are registered with the NRI Sabha. 363 NRIs cast their votes, of whom 260 voted for Sahota. Former president Jasvir Singh Shergill got 100 votes. Another former chief Pritam Singh Narangpuri, who had backed out at the last moment, got two votes. A total of 1,624 votes were polled in the last election, which was won by Shergill.

The NRI Sabha election was postponed for three years as first there were Vidhan Sabha elections in 2017 and then Lok Sabha in 2019

The new NRI Sabha chief, Kirpal Singh Sihota said:

• With NRIs showing faith in me in the elections, I will now press for getting their works done on priority.
•  I will meet politicians, administration and police officials. I will act as a liaison person and ensure speedy delivery in the system for the NRIs.
• I am well-connected with Punjab politicians as I have been hosting several leaders during their visits to the US. I will perform my duties within the system and work to get the faith of NRIs back. This will surely take time, but it is achievable.”
• Having stayed in the US for 50 years and earned a good livelihood for my family through transport and farming businesses, I felt like doing something for my home state.
• Though I will return to the US in a month or so, I will be back soon. I will spend more time in Punjab. After going back, I will request Punjab-origin NRIs across the globe, who have not been here for years, to come home at least once in a year and bring their kids along too so that they can stay connected with their roots.”

Low voter turnout of 1.5%, Sahta said, “The main reason behind it was the coronavirus scare. Secondly, the elections got a bit late. Had the elections been held around December and January, the poll percentage would have been up.

Kirpal Singh Sahota further said there was corruption in the system here due to which Punjab-origin NRIs were disappointed.