Bihar
Sameer Pandey of Bihar became the 1st Indian to hold the post of Mayor in Australia
- 24 May 2023
- 2 min read
Why in News?
On 22 May 2023, The City of Parramatta Council elected Indian-origin (Bihar) Councilor Sameer Pandey as the Lord Mayor of the City of Parramatta, in Sydney, Australia. Sameer is the first person of Indian origin to hold this position.
Key Points:
- Sameer Pandey's election coincided with the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Australia. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the election of Sameer Pandey as the first Indian-origin mayor.
- Parramatta is an important city in New South Wales adjacent to Sydney. Parramatta has a significant population of Indian origin and is growing rapidly. In this city with a population of more than two and a half million, more than 11% of the people are of Indian origin.
- Sameer Pandey, who arrived in Australia about twenty years ago, is an IT specialist as well as an industrialist, who came to Australia as an engineer. He is a member of the Labor Party and has also contested elections to the Legislative Assembly, in which he was defeated by a very narrow margin.
- In 2017, he won the election of corporator for the first time and in 2022 he became corporator for the second time. In 2022 itself, Sameer was elected the deputy mayor of the council.
