Australia-returned Navdeep is Karnal village sarpanch

Tribune News Service

Karnal, January 19

A 32-year-old man, Navdeep Singh Harchandia, who, at his family’s request, returned from Australia to contest the panchayat elections, has been elected sarpanch of Singhra village in Nissing block, 20 km from here, on Sunday.

A chef in Melbourne, he was drawing a handsome salary and had applied for PR there. But now he has left everything for the village.

Navdeep said he returned to the country in July 2015 when the panchayat elections had been announced.

His grandfather Sardar Virsa Singh was sarpanch in the village for two plans and to get the same post, he contested the election for the development of the village. Villagers gave him full support, which he would not forget, he said. “I had applied for PR in Australia, but when my family members asked me to come to India for contesting the election. I dropped my plan to continue there and came to my native village,” he asserted.

Besides launching a door-to-door campaign, he used the social media for spreading his vision of development, said Navdeep.

“Inclusive development of the village without any discrimination is my vision and I did not speak anything about castes during my campaign and asked everyone about my development agenda,” he said.

“I will seek villagers’ suggestions and will conduct meetings with them regularly. Transparency in each and every activity related to development works in the village is my agenda,” he maintained. He said he would make efforts to upgrade the government school to secondary level.