Who is Mohinder K Midha? First Dalit Female mayor elected in London Council

Councillor Mohinder K Midha, an Indian-Origin Politician from the UK’s Opposition Labour Party has been elected mayor of the Ealing Council in West London. She has become the first female mayor of a local London Council belonging to the Dalit Community.

Mohinder K Midha was elected for the next year’s term of 2022-23 at a council meeting on May 24, 2022. The Labour Party in Ealing said in a statement that they are proud that CIIs Mohinder Midha has been elected the Mayor Ealing for next year. The election of Midha as the first dalit female mayor is being celebrated by the British Dalit Community as a proud moment.

Duly elected in the last 5 minutes Mrs Mohinder K. Midha as #Mayor of #Ealing for 22/23. The first ever #Dalit #woman mayor in the #UK. A proud moment for us. @meenakandasamy @Profdilipmandal @nitinmeshram_ @aparna_banerji @Mayawati @BhimArmyChief @Raj_Ambedkar @RajBangarBallan pic.twitter.com/t5jozxsfvc

— Santosh Dass (@SantoshDass1048) May 24, 2022

Who is Mohinder K Midha?

An Indian-origin politician Mohinder K Midha who was re-elected as the Labour Councillor for the Dormers Wells ward in the Ealing Council in the local elections held on May 5 in London had been serving as the Deputy Mayor for the council previously.

The local labour party manifesto on which she campaigned on includes issues such as tackling the cost of living, recovering from the pandemic, fighting violent crime, and antisocial behaviour. Fixing social care, re-growing, re-wilding and recycling and delivering more genuinely affordable homes are also included in the manifesto.

Mohinder K Midha: First Dalit Female Mayor in UK

Santosh Dass, the Chair of the Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisation (FABO), while commenting on the appointment of Mohinder K Midha who has become the first Dalit Female mayor in London Council, said that it is a proud moment for the entire Dalit Community in London.

Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisation in UK is an umbrella group the represents Dalit rights in the country.

Dalit Community in the UK

It has been estimated that there are around 2,50,000 Dalits living in the United Kingdom. However, the exact figure is unknown due to the issues concerning identification as a Dalit.

While cultural specific menial occupations such as manual scavenging are not undertaken by Dalits in the UK, the untouchability mindset still persists and the UK based Dalits are often victims of several forms of direct and indirect discrimination.