Mahesh Bindra

Last updated

Mahesh Bindra
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for New Zealand First list
In office
20 September 2014 –23 September 2017
Personal details
Born Mumbai, India
Alma mater University of Mumbai

Mahesh Jaichand Bindra is an Indian-born New Zealand politician who represented New Zealand First as a list MP in Parliament between 2014 and 2017. He was the party's ethnic affairs spokesperson. [1]

Contents

Background

Bindra was born in Mumbai and obtained BA (Honours) degree in Political Science and Psychology from the University of Mumbai. He trained as an officer cadet for the Indian Army with the National Cadet Corps (India). [2] 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. [3] In about 2006 his wife was killed in a car crash. [4]

Bindra was listed on the 2014 electoral roll for the Mount Roskill electorate as being a case manager and worked for the Department of Corrections. [5] Bindra's election profile stated that he had extensive experience in rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into the society. [6] [7]

He was chairman of the Corrections Association of New Zealand for South Auckland Prison, and a member of the International Corrections and Prisons Association, [8] 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. [9] [10]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
YearsTermElectorateListParty
2014 –2017 51st List11 NZ First

Bindra's father was active in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Bindra became a member of New Zealand First in 2006. At the 2011 election, Bindra contested Mount Roskill for New Zealand First, placing 5th with 419 votes. [11] He was ranked 21st on the party list and not elected to parliament.

He again contested Mount Roskill in 2014 election gaining 607 votes, but was elected to parliament as a list MP after being ranked 11th on the New Zealand First list. After the election he received criticism in The New Zealand Herald and blogs for not disclosing details of his employment. [12] [13] [14] 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. [15]

In his maiden speech 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. [16] He has been appointed to Parliaments Law and Order Select Committee. [17]

With Winston Peters' win in the 2015 Northland by-election his executive assistant, Ria Bond became the New Zealand Party's 12th member of Parliament. [18]

He moved up one place to 10th on the party list for the 2017 New Zealand general election. [19] New Zealand First only gained 9 seats in the election, ending Bindra's time in Parliament. [20]

Since the 2017 election Bindra has remained active in New Zealand First. [21] He stood again for the party in the 2020 election, as its candidate for the seat of Hutt South. [22] Bindra came sixth place, gaining only 316 votes. [23] New Zealand First's popular vote also dropped to 2.6%, below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament. [24]

In September 2023, Bindra stood down as NZ First's candidate in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate for the 2023 New Zealand general election, citing personal reasons. [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Bradford</span> New Zealand politician

Maxwell Robert Bradford is a former New Zealand politician and cabinet minister. He was an MP for the National Party from 1990 to 2002. He is best known for introducing the "Bright Future" economic initiative in 1999, and for changes to the retail sector of the electricity industry in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Jones</span> New Zealand politician

Shane Geoffrey Jones is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Bennett (New Zealand politician)</span> New Zealand politician

David Allister Bennett is a New Zealand former National Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Hamilton East from 2005 to 2020 and a list MP from 2020 to 2023. He was Minister for Food Safety and Minister of Veterans' Affairs in the final year of the Fifth National Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maungakiekie (New Zealand electorate)</span> Electoral district in Auckland, New Zealand

Maungakiekie is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Maungakiekie is Greg Fleming of the National Party. The electorate's name comes from Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill, a large and symbolically important hill at the western end of the seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Roskill (New Zealand electorate)</span> Electoral district in Auckland, New Zealand

Mount Roskill is a parliamentary electorate in Auckland, New Zealand, returning one Member of Parliament (MP) to the New Zealand House of Representatives. Phil Goff of the Labour Party held the seat from the 1999 election until he resigned from Parliament on 12 October 2016 after contesting and being elected Mayor of Auckland on 8 October 2016 in the 2016 mayoral election. His resignation necessitated a byelection in this electorate which was won by Michael Wood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rongotai (New Zealand electorate)</span> Electoral district in Wellington, New Zealand

Rongotai is a New Zealand electorate, returning a single member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Rongotai is Julie Anne Genter of the Green Party. She has held this position since the 2023 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelvin Davis (politician)</span> New Zealand politician (born 1967)

Kelvin Glen Davis is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives, and was a senior minister in the Sixth Labour Government and the deputy leader of the New Zealand Labour Party from 2017 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Clendon</span> New Zealand politician

David James Clendon is a New Zealand former politician. He was a list Member of Parliament in the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 until 2017. He later served one term on the Far North District Council from 2019 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rino Tirikatene</span> New Zealand politician

Rino Tirikatene is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and a former member of the House of Representatives. He comes from a family with a strong political history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Wood (New Zealand politician)</span> New Zealand politician

Michael Philip Wood is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and a former member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, representing Mount Roskill between 2016 and 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Simpson (politician)</span> New Zealand politician

Scott Anthony Simpson is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He is a member of the National Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Party (New Zealand)</span> Political party in New Zealand

The Internet Party was a registered political party in New Zealand that promoted Internet freedom and privacy. The party was founded in January 2014 with the financial support and promotion of internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, and was first led by former Alliance MP Laila Harré, then by citizen journalist Suzie Dawson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priyanca Radhakrishnan</span> New Zealand politician

Priyanca Radhakrishnan is a New Zealand politician who has been elected to the New Zealand parliament since the 2017 general election as a representative of the New Zealand Labour Party and was Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector from 2020 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Rurawhe</span> New Zealand politician

Adrian Paki Rurawhe is a New Zealand Labour Party politician. He has been an MP since 2014, and the speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2022 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parmjeet Parmar</span> New Zealand politician

Kushmiita Parmjeet Kaur Parmar is a New Zealand politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Mount Roskill by-election</span> New Zealand by-election

A by-election was held in the Mount Roskill electorate on 3 December 2016. The seat was vacated following the resignation of Phil Goff after he was elected Mayor of Auckland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 New Zealand general election</span>

The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed party lists. Two referendums, one on the personal use of cannabis and one on euthanasia, were also held on the same day. Official results of the election and referendums were released on 6 November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah Russell</span> New Zealand politician

Deborah Faye Russell is a New Zealand academic and politician. She is a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party and served as Minister of Statistics and Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission from February to November 2023.

Toni Gae Severin is a New Zealand politician. She was a Member of Parliament for ACT New Zealand from 2020 until 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricardo Menéndez March</span> New Zealand Green Party politician

Ricardo Menéndez March is a New Zealand activist and politician who, since 2020, is a Member of Parliament for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand in the House of Representatives.

References

  1. ↑ "Exploitation Of Worker Brings Shame On NZ". Foreignaffairs.co.nz. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Our policies are for All New Zealanders: Mahesh Bindra". Indian Weekender. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Election 2014: Indian MP dispels NZ First 'myth'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Mahesh Bindra – Maiden Speech". Livenews.co.nz. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "NZ First's MP of mystery". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "About Local Body Elections". Elections2014.co.nz. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Corrections Department NZ – Case manager". Corrections.govt.nz. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  8. ↑ "Search Results". Icpa.ca. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Indian Newslink – Winston advocates commonsense approach". Indiannewslink.co.nz. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Mahesh Bindra elected Chairperson on CANZ". Indian Weekender. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "About Local Body Elections". Elections2014.co.nz. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  12. ↑ Fisher, David. "NZ First's MP of mystery". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "One thing we know about No. 11 on the NZ First list is that he isn't a spy (according to his leader) – Alf Grumble". Alf Grumble. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "MP won't say who he works for – Kiwiblog". Kiwiblog. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  15. ↑ "Mahesh Bindra Confirmed as MP". Scoop . Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "Mahesh Bindra". New Zealand First. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  17. ↑ "Bindra, Mahesh". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 18 June 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  18. ↑ Trevett, Claire (21 March 2015). "Hairdresser next in line to cut a dash in Parliament if Peters wins". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "New Zealand First Announces List For 2017 General Election". New Zealand First. 29 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  20. ↑ "2017 General Election – Official Result". New Zealand Electoral Commission . Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  21. ↑ Moir, Jo (1 October 2018). "'Their values do not necessarily match up with our values'". Radio New Zealand . Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  22. ↑ "New Zealand First Welcomes Third Tranche of Candidates". Scoop. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  23. ↑ "Hutt South – Official Result". Electoral Commission . Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  24. ↑ "2020 General Election and Referendums – Official Result Nationwide Party Votes Results". Electoral Commission . Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  25. ↑ "Indian-origin New Zealand First candidate withdraws from Auckland electorate race". Radio New Zealand . 19 September 2023. Archived from the original on 18 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.