Justin Trudeau denies forcing Sikh candidate from nomination race

Federal Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau denies his party's nomination process is undemocratic, and said prominent Sikh businessmanBarj Dhahan withdrew his bid to be the party's candidate for Vancouver-South willingly despite accusations he was forced out of the race.

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"Barjchose to withdraw from the race and I'm proud of the way the open nominations have been running," Trudeautold Rick Cluff, host of CBC Vancouver's morning radio show The Early Edition.

A number of Sikh Liberals in British Columbia told CBC News they would be leaving the party, saying Trudeau is being "manipulated" by the World Sikh Organization, by choosing the WSO-backedHarjit Singh Sajjan to represent the party in the Vancouver-South riding.

The WSO said in a statement to CBC News that it does not endorse parties or candidates.

Dhahan would not comment on the allegation he was forced out of the race, buttold CBC News he withdrew from the nomination process reluctantly.

Trudeau said he isn't worried even though 30 members of the Sikh community told CBC News at least 4,000 members of the community would be tearing up their Liberal Party memberships.

"I wouldn't give too much credence to the people who are complaining very loudly," Trudeau said.

"Because it's so competitiveacross the country, because there's such a great energy around the Liberal Party, there's an awful lot of people who want to join, who want to becomeMPs. Unfortunately, when it doesn't work out for someone's favourite candidate, there can be hurt feelings. This is politics."

The Liberals lost the Vancouver-South riding to Conservative MP WaiYoung in 2011, and is one of several ridings theLiberals hope to regain in 2015.

Trudeau said Sajjanis a strong candidate to represent the party going forward.

"Harj is an honest to goodness Canadian hero, a decorated veteran, three tours in Afghanistan and an extraordinary individual who will be a great contributor to our parliamentary scene and our party."