A native of Jalandhar, India, Swaranjit Singh Khalsa, 40, has made history with his election as the first Sikh Mayor of Norwich, a city in New London County, Connecticut.
A Democrat, Khalsa who was elected to the city council in 2021, faced Republican Tracy Gould and unaffiliated Marcia Wilbur in the mayoral poll Tuesday. A baptised Sikh, he now leafs the city which has just 10 other Sikh families.
Norwich falls in Connecticut, the southernmost state in the New England region with the highest per capita income in the U.S.
Swaranjit is the son of Parminderpal Singh Khalsa, a representative of the Sikh International Society, who shared his son’s inspiring journey to the United States on social media.
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According to him, Swaranjit studied engineering at DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology in Jalandhar before moving to the U.S. on a student visa in 2007.
After earning a master’s degree in computer engineering, he married a Sikh woman from Ludhiana in 2009.
Now settled in Norwich, Swaranjit runs a construction business and is deeply involved in community service — serving on the Board of Education and promoting equity and cultural awareness.
He has also served on the Commission on the City Plan, the Inland Wetland Commission, the Norwich Area Clergy Association, and as Director of the Norwich Community Development Corporation.
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Through hard work and determination, Singh has come to embody the American Dream, according to his campaign site. As someone who has been welcomed by America, Singh believes deeply In giving back to the nation.
His family has always given back, and he is proud to follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, a long line of public servants who raised Singh to believe in the importance of being there for your neighbors.
As the next mayor of Norwich, Singh vowed to put his deep connections to our community and business skills to work building a brighter, more prosperous future for every Norwich resident.