Balwant Singh Rakkha (born 1941) was a Fiji Indian medical doctor and a member of the House of Representatives of

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

representing the

National Federation Party The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A. D. Patel, A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party (Fiji, 1960s), National Democratic Party. Though it claimed to ...

(NFP), but he is best known for his strong support for the former leader of the NFP,

Sidiq Koya Siddiq Moidin Koya (29 February 1924 – 25 April 1993) was a Indians in Fiji, Fijian Indian politician, Statesman and Leader of the Opposition (Fiji), Opposition leader. He succeeded to the leadership of the mostly Indians in Fiji, Indo-Fij ...

and the split caused within the NFP when he was rewarded by Koya for his loyalty by being given a seat in a constituency where he was a virtual unknown. Rakkha was born in Tavua and went to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to study medicine. He returned to Fiji after fourteen years and established a practice in Ba. He joined the NFP in 1975 and was the President of the Ba branch from 1977. When the

Lautoka Lautoka () is the second largest Local government in Fiji, city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing r ...

Indian Communal seat became vacant in April 1984 following the resignation of the former leader of the NFP,

Jai Ram Reddy Jai Ram Reddy, CF (12 May 1937 – 29 August 2022) was an Indo-Fijian politician, who had a distinguished career in both the legislative and judicial branches of the Fijian government. In 1998, he received Fiji's highest honour, the Companion ...

, Rakkha was selected to contest the by-election for the NFP. Davendra Singh, a virtually unknown small businessman, managed to persuade the NFP Youth Wing, which had earlier been shunned by Koya, to support him to oppose Rakkha. Singh demanded that a local person be selected by NFP for the vacant seat but when he was ignored by the Party, he nominated himself for the election. The result was a narrow win for Singh by 2209 votes to Rakkha's 2196 votes in an election in which only 4421 of the 12,260 registered voters cast their votes. The election result triggered a series of events which led to the decline of the NFP and the rise of the Fiji Labour Party (FLP). For the 1987 general election, the NFP–Labour Coalition chose him as a candidate for the Ba Indian Communal Constituency which he won easily, but was a member of Parliament for a month when the military coup of 1987 put a temporary halt to his political career. In 1994 he stood for the Ba East/Tavua Rural Indian Constituency and lost narrowly to his Fiji Labour Party opponent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rakkha, Balwant Singh Fijian Sikhs National Federation Party politicians Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) 1941 births Living people Fijian medical doctors Politicians from Tavua, Fiji