Mahesh Jaichand Bindra is an Indian-born New Zealand politician who represented

New Zealand First New Zealand First (), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a political party in New Zealand, founded and led by Winston Peters, who has served three times as Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, deputy prime minister. The party has form ...

as a list MP in Parliament between

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2017. He was the party's ethnic affairs spokesperson.

Background

Bindra was born in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and obtained BA (Honours) degree in Political Science and Psychology from the

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

. He trained as an officer cadet for the Indian Army with the

National Cadet Corps (India) The National Cadet Corps (NCC) is the youth wing of the Indian Armed Forces with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. It is open to school and college students on voluntary basis as a Tri-Services Organisation, comprising the Indian Army, Army, ...

. He worked as a security officer for Air India at Mumbai airport until 1986, he then joined Air India cabin crew as an assistant flight purser until 2002. He migrated to New Zealand from India in 2002 with his wife, twin daughters, and son. In about 2006 his wife was killed in a car crash. Bindra was listed on the 2014 electoral roll for the

Mount Roskill Mount Roskill () is a suburban area in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It is named for the volcanic peak Mount Roskill. Etymology The name Mount Roskill was first recorded as Mt Rascal in 1841, on a map created by a Wesleyan missionary, ...

electorate as being a case manager and worked for the

Department of Corrections In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and su ...

. Bindra's election profile stated that he had extensive experience in rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into the society. He was chairman of the Corrections Association of New Zealand for South Auckland Prison, and a member of the

International Corrections and Prisons Association The International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) is a not-for-profit association for prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a fa ...

, the executive committee of the Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust, the Hindi Language and Culture Trust of New Zealand, and the

Global Organization for People of Indian Origin Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) is an international network of Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin, people of Indian origin (PIO). History GOPIO was founded at the First Global Convention of People of Indian Origi ...

Political career

Bindra's father was active in the

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh) was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by three founding members: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal ...

. Bindra became a member of New Zealand First in 2006. At the , Bindra contested

for

, placing 5th with 419 votes. He was ranked 21st on the party list and not elected to parliament. He again contested Mount Roskill in gaining 607 votes, but was elected to parliament as a

list MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than a geographic electoral district. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs only in ...

after being ranked 11th on the New Zealand First list. After the election he received criticism in ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'' and blogs for not disclosing details of his employment. In a press release, once he had been confirmed as a Member of Parliament, he revealed that he was a Department of Corrections senior corrections officer. He said that his contractual agreement with his employer prevented him from divulging this before he was appointed. In his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 6 November 2014 Bindra pledged to confront "the monsters who would stand against a fair and just society ..." and "... defend the rights of all those who feel aggrieved and are". Bindra was appointed New Zealand First's customs, ethnic affairs, and corrections spokesperson. He has been appointed to Parliaments Law and Order Select Committee. With

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He has led the political party New Zealand First since he founded it in 1993, and since November 2023 has served as the 25th Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), ...

' win in the

2015 Northland by-election A by-election was held in the Northland electorate on 28 March 2015. The seat had been vacated following the resignation of Mike Sabin of the National Party from the House of Representatives on 30 January 2015. Northland was generally regarde ...

his executive assistant,

Ria Bond Ria Iris Daphne Bond (née Shortland, born 1976) is a New Zealand politician and former hairdresser. She was List of appointments to the New Zealand House of Representatives, appointed to the New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Repres ...

became the New Zealand Party's 12th member of Parliament. He moved up one place to 10th on the party list for the

2017 New Zealand general election The 2017 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 23 September 2017 to determine the membership of the 52nd New Zealand Parliament. The 51st New Zealand Parliament, previous parliament was elected on 20 September 2014 and was official ...

. New Zealand First only gained 9 seats in the election, ending Bindra's time in Parliament. Since the 2017 election Bindra has remained active in New Zealand First. He stood again for the party in the 2020 election, as its candidate for the seat of

Hutt South Hutt South is a parliamentary electorate in the lower Hutt Valley of New Zealand. It is held by Chris Bishop of the National Party following the 2023 election. It was previously held by Ginny Andersen of the Labour Party Population centres ...

. Bindra came sixth place, gaining only 316 votes. New Zealand First's popular vote also dropped to 2.6%, below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament. In September 2023, Bindra stood down as NZ First's candidate in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate for the

2023 New Zealand general election The 2023 New Zealand general election was held on 14 October 2023 to determine the composition of the 54th New Zealand Parliament, 54th Parliament of New Zealand. Voters elected 122 members to the unicameral New Zealand House of Representatives ...

, citing personal reasons.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bindra, Mahesh Living people Punjabi Hindus Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand First MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs Indian emigrants to New Zealand Politicians from Mumbai University of Mumbai alumni Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election