New Delhi: Ruby Dhalla, the Indo-Canadian candidate for leadership of the Liberal Party, has described as “unacceptable” the attempted to “discredit” her after Canadian media, citing unnamed party sources, alleged interference by India in her campaign.
That allegation was made by the outlet the Globe and Mail on Thursday, which said the Liberal Party had sent questions to Dhalla’s which included those pertaining to the “possible foreign interference in her leadership campaign from the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
However, the Liberal Party formally denied that charge on Thursday, with a spokesperson telling the government-funded outlet CBC News that none of the questions related to foreign interference.
CBC News also insinuated a connection between her and the Indian government as it said her social media “showed her to be active in Indian politics, including in helping Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in state legislature elections in 2017” and “and visited Modi as part of a Sikh delegation in 2022.”
In a statement posted on X, Dhalla said, “As the first woman of colour to run for Prime Minister in the history of Canada, I will not allow every person of colour or Canadian from a multicultural community to be painted with the brush of foreign interference. It is unacceptable and wrong.”
She told the public network CPAC she was “shocked” at the allegations and they were “completely false.”
She confirmed the party had put forward a list questions to her campaign. “We have given all of the requested information, along with all the supporting documentation that they requested,” she said. Those queries were related to two persons donating to her campaign using the same credit card, which she said was done by couples with joint accounts.
Dhalla entered the race on January 22.
“I hope that we’re going to make history, and create history as the first woman of Indian origin to be elected as Prime Minister of Canada,” she told the outlet CTV News in an interview at the time.
Dhalla was first elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal Party MP in 2004 from the erstwhile riding of Brampton-Springdale. She was -re-elected in 2006 and 2008, but lost in 2011 and opted not to contest in 2015 when the Liberals came into power with a majority.
Her victory in the 2004 Federal election made her, along with Conservative Nina Grewal, the first women of Indian origin to be elected to the House.
Other than her stint in politics, Dhalla has also been a model, and is currently a hotelier and entrepreneur.
The leadership race was precipitated by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement on January 6 he intended to resign from that post after the party selected its new leader. That process is scheduled to be completed on March 9.
