Ottawa: Priti Obhrai-Martin, daughter of Deepak Obhrai - the first Hindu to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons - is running for the Liberal Party in Calgary East in this federal election on April 28.
According to a hindustantimes.com report, the late Deepak Obhrai became an MP in 1997, representing a riding in the city of Calgary in Alberta. He won seven consecutive elections and remained an MP till his death in August 2019. But while the father was a stalwart of the Conservative Party, Priti is the candidate of the ruling Liberal Party for the riding of Calgary East.
She said she had been “listening and following politics” in recent times but found that “solutions weren’t being offered by anybody". “Change happened when Mark Carney put his hand up,” she said, referring to the current Canadian Prime Minister entering the race for the leadership of the ruling Liberals in January this year.
She said that her father had spoken “highly” of Carney’s tenure as Governor of the Bank of Canada, particularly during the global financial crisis in 2008-2009.
Priti, who was born in Arusha, Tanzania and moved to Canada as a three-year-old, has experience in international trade, community work and the non-profit sector. She learnt how campaigns work while handling her father’s numerous runs including that for leadership of the Conservative Party in 2017.
