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The front-runner for leader of the federal New Democratic Party receives decidedly mixed reviews from fellow Sikhs in British Columbia, where he has signed up more than 10,000 new party members.

In the Canadian province with the most followers of the religion, prominent Sikhs appreciate Jagmeet Singh is an accomplished lawyer and speaker, but they question what they see as his over-emphasis on his religious and ethnic identity, his evasiveness on the Sikh separatist movement and his attempt to “out-Trudeau Justin Trudeau” with style over substance.

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Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Shinder Purewal and talk-show host Harjit Singh Gill also warn the charismatic, fashion-savvy politician from Brampton, Ont., may be trying to win the NDP leadership by leaning too heavily on “bulk voting” among the more than 500,000 Sikhs who live in certain cities across the country.

“My concern is too many Sikhs have signed up as NDP members because of Singh’s Punjabi identity and because he’s a baptized Sikh. They should instead be deciding whether to vote for him on his values,” said Gill, host of a popular Punjabi- and English-language radio talk show at 1550 AM.