Mahesh Kumar Malani () is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

since February 2024 and previously served in this position from August 2018 till August 2023. He is the first non-Muslim to win a general seat (non reserved seat, seats have been reserved for minorities under the 1973 constitution) in the

, 16 years after non-Muslims got the right to vote and contest on general seats of the parliament and provincial assemblies in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

(which they had been barred from since 1985).

Political career

He started his political career in 1996-97 and remained President PPP District Tharparkar and president minority wing PPP Province

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. He contested election against

Shaukat Aziz Shaukat Aziz (born 6 March 1949) is a Pakistani-born British former banker who served as the 15th prime minister of Pakistan from 28 August 2004 to 15 November 2007. When his term as Prime Minister was over, he immediately left Pakistan and se ...

in 2004 on NA-229 Tharparkar and then he again contested general election on NA-229 Tharparkar in 2008 and elected as MNA from PPP Reserved seat for minorities from 2008-2013 and he also remained Chairman standing committee of NA on Minorities affairs. He contested election on PS-61 Tharparkar in 2013 secured 42,137 votes by defeating Arbab Naimatullah of Arbab Group (29,346) votes and Rana Hameersingh of

PML-F The Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) (, acronym: PMLF, PML-F, PML (F)) is a nationalist and pro- Hurs clan political party in Pakistan. It is one of the breakaway groups of Pakistan Muslim League. The letter 'F' in its name stands for ''funct ...

(11,348) votes. Malani also achieved the feat of becoming the first non-Muslim

Member of the Provincial Assembly A Member of the Provincial Assembly, or MPA is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to the legislature or legislative assembly of a subnational jurisdiction. In Pakistan, the members are elected by the voters in provi ...

after winning the Tharparkar general seat of the

Sindh Assembly The Provincial Assembly of Sindh is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Sindh, and is located in Karachi, its provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakistan ...

in 2013 after non-Muslims were allowed to contest on such seats in

in the provincial and national assemblies (besides seats reserved for minorities after 1973) which they had been barred from since 1985. He served as chairman on standing committee PAS on food. He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PPP from NA-222 in the 2018 Pakistani general election. He received 106,630 votes and defeated Arbab Zakaullah, a candidate of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA). This made him the first non-Muslim elected as MNA on a general seat. On 13 September 2022, Malani was appointed as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister with the Portfolio of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination. He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PPP from NA-215 Tharparkar-II in the

2024 Pakistani general election General elections, originally scheduled to be held in 2023, were held in Pakistan on 8 February 2024 to elect the members of the List of members of the 16th National Assembly of Pakistan, 16th National Assembly of Pakistan, National Assembly. The ...

. He received 135,287 votes and defeated

Arbab Ghulam Rahim Arbab Ghulam Rahim (; born 1 January 1957) is a senior Pakistani politician who served as the Chief Minister of the Government of Sindh from 2004 until 2007. After that he also served as a special minister to Imran Khan on matters of Sindh fro ...

, a candidate of the GDA.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malani, Mahesh Kumar Living people Pakistani MNAs 2018–2023 Pakistani MNAs 2024–2029 Pakistani Hindus Pakistan People's Party MNAs Thari people Tharparkar District 1962 births

Political career

See also

External links

References