This month all local councils (except the Casey City Council, South Gippsland Shire Council and Whittlesea City Council) in the state of Victoria are going to elect new councillors. Usually quiet achievers, the Indian diaspora is now also knocking on the power corridors if their interest in these elections is any guide. More than 130 Indian candidates of Indian /Asian origin have filed their nominations with the Victorian Electoral Commission.
There are people not only of Indian origin in the fray; there are Pakistani, Afghani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan Australians who are contesting in 2020. There are a small number of people who had tried their luck last time. Although they could not win last time but that has not dampened their spirit and are more energized this time to make it.
Interestingly there are certain pockets in Melbourne – Wyndham(42), Melton(12), Dandenong(12), Hume(11), Monash(8), Cardinia(9) and Darebin(4) where there are multiple Indian candidates not only fighting against mainstream candidates but also against our own, such is the intensity of the battle this time. Take a look:
| Count | Candidate Name | Council Name |
| 1. | Aijaz Moinuddin | Wyndham |
| 2. | ALAA SULTAN | Wyndham |
| 3. | Ali Hashmi | Wyndham |
| 4. | Amandeep Kaur | Wyndham |
| 5. | Arnav Sati | Wyndham |
| 6. | Ashok Sherwal | Wyndham |
| 7. | Azhar Habib | Wyndham |
| 8. | Balwant Singh | Wyndham |
| 9. | Bir Bharti | Wyndham |
| 10. | Bobby Lakra | Wyndham |
| 11. | Dhiren Trivedi | Wyndham |
| 12. | Firas Hasan | Wyndham |
| 13. | Gary Grewal | Wyndham |
| 14. | Geetanjali GABA | Wyndham |
| 15. | Ghanshyam Ramani | Wyndham |
| 16. | Hasan Naim | Wyndham |
| 17. | KAMALDIP KAHMA | Wyndham |
| 18. | Kamran Javed | Wyndham |
| 19. | Kapil Thakkar | Wyndham |
| 20. | Karnav Thakar | Wyndham |
| 21. | Karnjit Singh | Wyndham |
| 22. | Ketankumar N. Patel | Wyndham |
| 23. | Khaled Ajaj | Wyndham |
| 24. | Khalid Farooq | Wyndham |
| 25. | KHALID HASSAN | Wyndham |
| 26. | Lateefuddin Mohammed | Wyndham |
| 27. | Md Mofizul Islam | Wyndham |
| 28. | MEHAK SHEIKH | Wyndham |
| 29. | Monty Prajapati | Wyndham |
| 30. | Munish Joshi | Wyndham |
| 31. | Navpreet Singh | Wyndham |
| 32. | Nusrat Islam | Wyndham |
| 33. | Pratibha Sharma | Wyndham |
| 34. | Preet Singh | Wyndham |
| 35. | Ramesh Sahana | Wyndham |
| 36. | Rishi Prabhakara | Wyndham |
| 37. | Rohit Singh | Wyndham |
| 38. | Sachin Khera | Wyndham |
| 39. | Sayeed Aslam | Wyndham |
| 40. | Tawhid Millat Patwary | Wyndham |
| 41. | Tejpreet Singh | Wyndham |
| 42. | Zahid MAZUMDER | Wyndham |
| 43. | Ajay Pasupulate | Melton |
| 44. | Deepti Alurkar | Melton |
| 45. | Golam Haque | Melton |
| 46. | Gurjant Singh | Melton |
| 47. | Gurpreet Verma | Melton |
| 48. | Kubir Lal KHANAL | Melton |
| 49. | Kunwarpal Singh | Melton |
| 50. | Mano Perera | Melton |
| 51. | Rajinder Klair | Melton |
| 52. | Shalini Ashika Kumar | Melton |
| 53. | Sukhpreet Singh Maan | Melton |
| 54. | Surinder Singh Brar | Melton |
| 55. | Ujjala Camilleri | Melton |
| 56. | Vivek Sharma | Melton |
| 57. | Ali Awan | Hume |
| 58. | Chalaka Jayasingha | Hume |
| 59. | Chandra Bamunusinghe | Hume |
| 60. | Guri Singh | Hume |
| 61. | Ravi Raguapathy | Hume |
| 62. | Ravinder Kaur | Hume |
| 63. | Sarwan Singh Sandhu | Hume |
| 64. | Shezad Ali | Hume |
| 65. | Khalid Suhale Shukoor | Hume |
| 66. | Smiley Sandhu | Hume |
| 67. | Taqdir Singh Deol | Hume |
| 68. | Abdirahman I. Ali | Melbourne |
| 69. | Jamal Hakim | Melbourne |
| 70. | Moti Visa | Melbourne |
| 71. | Safaa Hakim | Melbourne |
| 72. | Amit Patel | Monash |
| 73. | Anamika Anamika | Monash |
| 74. | Anjalee de Silva | Monash |
| 75. | Chitra Dhanalakshmi Angappan | Monash |
| 76. | Mazharul Chowdhury | Monash |
| 77. | Narendra Kushwaha | Monash |
| 78. | Naureen Choudhry | Monash |
| 79. | Shashi Kochhar | Monash |
| 80. | Anab Mohamud | Yarra |
| 81. | Sandeep Sarathy | Yarra |
| 82. | Anne Makhijani | Whitehorse |
| 83. | Nildhara Gadani | Whitehorse |
| 84. | Ash Verma | Darebin |
| 85. | Khush Singh | Darebin |
| 86. | Nulliah Suryakumaran | Darebin |
| 87. | Tim Laurence | Darebin |
| 88. | BEVINAKOPPA Gandhi | Kingston |
| 89. | Rez Chowdhury | Kingston |
| 90. | Suren Surender | Kingston |
| 91. | Bikram Singh | Mitchell |
| 92. | Jasdeep Kochar | Mitchell |
| 93. | Vasalia Govender | Mitchell |
| 94. | Brijlal Parikh | Cardinia |
| 95. | Jasbir Suropada | Cardinia |
| 96. | Manbir Singh | Cardinia |
| 97. | Mandeep Premi | Cardinia |
| 98. | Nav Malhi | Cardinia |
| 99. | Nav Singh Dhanoha | Cardinia |
| 100. | NavDeep Singh Bal | Cardinia |
| 101. | Nilesh Kumar Patel | Cardinia |
| 102. | Shoeheli Sunjida | Cardinia |
| 103. | Dev Oza | Glen Eira |
| 104. | Geraldine Gonzalves | Dandenong |
| 105. | Hayat Rahimi | Dandenong |
| 106. | Irfan Syed | Dandenong |
| 107. | Liaqat Khan | Dandenong |
| 108. | Madhu Warnakulasuriya | Dandenong |
| 109. | Moonsamy Naidoo | Dandenong |
| 110. | Neelima Perika | Dandenong |
| 111. | Pradeep Hewavitharana | Dandenong |
| 112. | Ravi Shannkar | Dandenong |
| 113. | Sam Sheree | Dandenong |
| 114. | Suresh Shanmugam | Dandenong |
| 115. | Vivekkumar Desai | Dandenong |
| 116. | Chintan Bharwada | Stonnington |
| 117. | Sonali Sanghvi | Stonnington |
| 118. | Thurairajah Shanmugapalan | Manningham |
| 119. | Jay BHAT | Maroondah |
| 120. | Rajdeep Kaur Kang | Maribyrnong |
| 121. | Muhammad Nisar Ul Murtaza | Moreland |
| 122. | Praveen Kumar | Moreland |
| 123. | Shanaka Perera | Moreland |
| 124. | Philip Prasad | Frankston |
| 125. | Rupinder Singh | Frankston |
| 126. | Prabhat Gaur | Moorabool |
| 127. | Ranbir Lambra | Hobsons Bay |
| 128. | Shavita Kotak | Hobsons Bay |
| 129. | Harpreet Walia | Brimbank |
| 130. | Syed Tanveer Hussain | Brimbank |
Let us hope a good number of our Indian candidates make it this time and we can see some Indians making their contribution to the state building and local decision making.
Make your Indian candidates win this 2020 Council elections!
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