The residents of Brampton East have passed the torch from brother to brother.

Ontario NDP candidate Gurrratan Singh won the provincial riding of Brampton East, after a contentious election that saw polls show major support for the Ontario PC Party and the Ontario NDP.

“Our job now as the official opposition now is to hold this government to account,” Singh told the Brampton Guardian. “We hear Doug Ford talk of $6.1 billion of cuts, and you look at Brampton, a city that needs investment and support. That’s our job now, to hold this government accountable.”

Brampton East was carved out of the older ridings of Bramalea-Gore-Malton and Brampton-Springdale. Former Ontario NDP MPP Jagmeet Singh - Gurratan’s brother - vacated his Bramalea-Gore-Malton seat after winning the federal NDP leadership election.

His brother, Gurratan Singh, a lawyer and community activist, followed in his footsteps to run for Ontario NDP MPP for the new riding. Jagmeet was with Gurratan to celebrate at Bombay Palace in Brampton when the results came in.

“You’re going to have a fierce opposition with Andrea Horwath,” Jagmeet Singh told the Brampton Guardian. “She’s going to lead New Democrats to fight every single cut this government’s going to bring forward.”

Other contenders included Ontario Liberal Party candidate Parminder Singh, a medical doctor and broadcaster known for the Punjabi language version of Hockey Night in Canada.

Singh was hand-picked directly by Kathleen Wynne to represent Brampton East. It’s one of five appointments the Ontario Liberal party leader can make under the party’s constitution.

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidate Sudeep Verma was brought in after former candidate Simmer Sandhu stepped down following allegations he was involved in an internal data breach at 407 ETR.

Other candidates included Raquel Fronte from the Green Party of Ontario, Gurdeep Dhothar from the Trillium Party of Ontario, and Daniele Cerasoli from the Ontario Libertarian Party.