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

New Zealand First New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winst ...

as a list MP in Parliament between

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

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

Background

Bindra was born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

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

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate university, collegiate, State university (India), state-owned, Public university, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the un ...

. 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 Army, the Navy an ...

. 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 Puketāpapa (commonly called "Mount Roskill" in English). Description The suburb, named after the Mount, is located seven kilometres to ...

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 s ...

. 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 The Corrections Association of New Zealand (CANZ) is a national trade union in New Zealand. It represents corrections staff within the New Zealand prison system There are eighteen adult prisons in New Zealand. Three prisons house female offe ...

for South Auckland Prison, and a member of the International Corrections and Prisons Association, 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.

Political career

Bindra's father was active in the

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

. 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 from by a geographical constituency. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes that the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs ...

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 of all newspapers ...

'' 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 serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020 ...

' win in the 2015 Northland by-election his executive assistant,

Ria Bond Ria Iris Daphne Bond (née Shortland, born 1976) is a New Zealand politician and former hairdresser. She was appointed to the House of Representatives as a New Zealand First list MP following Winston Peters winning the March 2015 Northland by ...

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 previous parliament was elected on 20 September 2014 and was officially dissolved on 22 August 20 ...

. 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 Ginny Andersen of the Labour Party following the 2020 election. It was previously held by Chris Bishop of the National Party Bishop's victory was t ...

. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bindra, Mahesh Living people 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 21st-century New Zealand politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election