PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, May 24: After outstanding performances by Jamshedpur students in the recently declared UPSC and JAC examinations, the steel city yet again feels proud and has a reason to rejoice.
This time for Sameer Pandey, a former resident of Sonari in Jamshedpur who has not only made the steel city proud but the whole country by becoming the first Indian-origin Lord Mayor in Australia.
The City of Parramatta Council in Australia’s Sydney on Monday created history by electing its Councillor Sameer Pandey as its first-ever Indian-origin Lord Mayor.
Pandey’s election to the post coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia as part of his three-nation tour which concluded yesterday.
Sameer will serve as the City of Parramatta’s Lord Mayor, a title granted to the mayor of London and some other cities in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada.
Sameer Pandey, a former resident of steel city who had stayed at an apartment in Sonari had left for Sydney in Australia way back in 1998.
He owned a small business in that country with a background in IT.
Sources said Sameer’s father Shatrughan Pandey is a former Tata Steel employee. Currently, he is staying with his son -Sameer at Parramatta in Australia.
Sameer was learnt to have completed his schooling from the KMPM High School here before leaving for Visakhapatnam.
He left for Sydney for higher studies sometime around 1998. He had an engineering background. Since then he has been staying there.
While sharing the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sydney on Tuesday, Pandey expressed his excitement and said he would like to create a more sustainable and inclusive Parramatta under his leadership.
He also spoke about PM Modi’s visit to Sydney and expressed optimism about the continued growth of the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
Notably, Sameer Pandey was first elected to the council in 2017 and in 2022, became the City’s first Deputy Lord Mayor from the Indian subcontinent.
He was elected as Donna Davis stepped down from the role following her election as the State Member for Parramatta in Australia’s New South Wales state.
Several noted and elderly citizens of Jamshedpur hailed Sameer Pandey’s appointment as the first Indian-origin Lord Mayor in Australia, a coveted post.
