Brampton East PC candidate Simmer Sandhu steps down after `allegations anonymously made against me´
(The Star Food)

Ontario Progressive Conservative candidate Simmer Sandhu announced he is stepping down in a tweet Wednesday evening, referring to “allegations anonymously made against me pertaining to both my work life and my nomination campaign.�Sandhu, who did not detail the allegations, said he denies them and will “vigorously� defend himself and his reputation, but said he feels it is impossible to continue as PC candidate in Brampton East.“This election is too important to get caught up in the issues surrounding any one person,� Sandhu said in the tweet.PC leader Doug Ford did not comment on the resignation at a Mississauga rally taking place as the news broke but the party issued a statement.“In light of the investigation into Simmer Sandhu, he felt it was necessary to stand down as a candidate and we accepted his resignation,� said Ford campaign spokeswoman Melissa Lantsman. “We are committed to running a strong campaign in Brampton East and electing an Ontario PC MPP on June 7th. We are excited to announce Sudeep Verma as the Ontario PC Candidate in Brampton East.�Sandu’s resignation came on the eve of Thursday’s 2 p.m. Elections Ontario deadline for the nomination of candidates. Conservatives have been plagued by candidate problems for the election, including a fraud investigation by police into nomination irregularities in Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas under previous leader Patrick Brown and Ford’s appointment of former radio talk-show host Andrew Lawton in London West for misogynist and racist remarks.Ford has stood by Lawton but recently fired social conservative Tanya Granic Allen as the candidate in Mississauga Centre for blog posts that compared Muslim women in burqas to “bank robbers� and “ninjas.� She also made remarks seen as intolerant of gays. Sandhu was running against federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s brother Gurratan Singh, running for the New Demo ...