Liberals revoke Chandra Arya’s nomination, after removing him from leadership race
Chandra Arya, a Liberal backbench MP who recently had his bid to replace Justin Trudeau as leader rejected by the party, has now been dropped as the candidate for the Ottawa riding of Nepean. The 62-year-old has been representing the riding since 2015.
The news of Arya’s removal as a candidate was delivered to him in a letter from the party’s national campaign director, Andrew Bevan, just days before an expected election call. This decision comes almost two months after the party also rejected Arya’s candidacy for the party leadership.
In the letter, Bevan mentioned that new information obtained by the party’s “green light committee” led to the recommendation to revoke Arya’s status as a candidate. However, no specifics about this new information were provided by Bevan.
Arya, in response to the news, expressed his disappointment but also highlighted the honor and privilege he felt in serving the people of Nepean and all Canadians as their Member of Parliament for the past six years. He shared his thoughts on Facebook, stating that being an MP was the “responsibility of my life.”
The rejection of Arya’s candidacy for both the party leadership and the Nepean riding opens up an opportunity for Prime Minister Mark Carney to potentially run in Ottawa during the upcoming election. Carney, who has not yet declared which riding he intends to run in, has been speculated to choose between Edmonton, Toronto, or Ottawa.
It is widely expected that Carney will officially launch the election at Rideau Hall on Sunday, with a potential vote date set for either April 28 or May 5. As the political landscape continues to shift, the decision to remove Arya as a candidate reflects the ongoing dynamics within the Liberal Party as they prepare for the upcoming election.
