Pune Man Creates History, Becomes The First Indian To Win An Election In Japan!

41-year-old Puranik Yogendra, who is popularly known by his nickname ‘Yogi’, has won a ward assembly election by collecting a whopping 6477 votes. While that sounds absolutely normal, the next bit of the story is something out of the ordinary.

Yogendra, whose name sounds Desi, became the first man from the Indian origin to win an election in Japan. Yes, he has been elected to Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward assembly after the number of votes in his favor stood as the fifth highest of the 226,561 valid ballots cast, in the April 21 poll, part of unified local elections held across Japan.

According to NDTV, Yogi, who is backed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, expressed his wish to be a bridge between Japanese and foreigners.

“I want to be a bridge between Japanese and foreigners.”

Speaking about the historic win, Shamshad Khan, the author of Changing Dynamics of India-Japan Relations, said,

“This is the first-ever victory of a naturalised Japanese of Indian origin in elections in Japan. This is also a recognition of contributions made by Indians towards the Japanese society.”

Yogi’s journey in Japan roots back to 1997 when he came to the country as a university student. Two years later, he came back to the country once again but to study. In 2001, he made his 3rd visit to Japan to work as an engineer. Since 2005, Yogi has been a resident of the Edogawa Ward, which has the highest number of Indian residents among Tokyo’s 23 wards with 4,300 or so Indian nationals registered, accounting for more than 10 percent of Indians living in Japan.

Just to give you a little bit of extra information, around 34,000 Indians are currently living in Japan.

According to Yogi, his bond with the country became stronger when he used to visit affected areas on weekends after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster that shook the nation. He used to cook curry along with Indian friends from Edogawa Ward and shared it with the people affected by the calamity.

“I felt the time had come for me to become Japanese.”

Speaking about his plans, Yogi added,

“I want to be an assemblyman who can connect everyone regardless of nationality, age, or even disabilities, through my 20 years of living in Japan.”

Kamaal kartein ho Yogi Ji.