Pakistan Polls: Non-Muslim Mahesh Kumar Malani wins National Assembly seat
Islamabad, July 28 (IBNS): A Pakistani Hindu has become the first non-Muslim to win a National Assembly seat in the country.
Pakistan voted to elect a new Prime Minister this week. Imran Khan's PTI emerged victorious in the polls.
Mahesh Kumar Malani touched the landmark after 16 years since non-Muslims got the right to vote and contest on general seats in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) candidate won the National Assembly (NA-222) Tharparkar-II seat in southern Sindh province.
"Malani — who is a Hindu — contested and won the NA-222 (Tharparkar-II) seat where he held his ground against 14 candidates representing the Grand Democratic Alliance, Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan and several independent candidates," PakTribune reported.
Mahesh received 106,630 votes in the polls.
He defeated Arbab Zakaullah of the GDA. He clinched 87251 votes.
Interestingly, he was the first non-Muslim lawmaker to win a general seat in the Sindh Assembly, PS-61 (Tharparkar-III) in 2013.
Non-Muslims of the south Asian nation were declared eligible to vote and contest on general seats in 2002.
The eligibility was given to them under an amendment in the Legal Framework Order introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf.
The non-Muslim community of the nation also has reserved seats in the Senate, national and provincial assemblies.
Krishna Kumari:
Thari Hindu woman Krishna Kumari was elected to the country's Senate earlier this year.
Kumari, a rights activist belonging to the Kohli community from the remote village of Dhana Gam in Nagarparkar, was selected as a candidate for a Senate seat by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
She was elected to a reserved seat for women from Sindh along with Quratulain Marri.
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