Twarit Vishwa: Pakistan elects first non-Muslim Mahesh Kumar Malani for national assembly seat

Hailing from the Hindu community in Tharparkar, PPP's Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani becomes the first-ever non-Muslim to win a general seat in the National Assembly on joint electorate.
Malani contested and won the National Assembly (NA-222) Tharparkar-II seat in southern Sindh province, after defeating 14 candidates, the Dawn reported.
He received 1,06,630 votes while his opponent, Arbab Zakaullah of the Grand Democratic Alliance, garnered 87,251 votes.
Malani, a Pakistani Hindu Rajasthani Pushkarna Brahamin politician, was a member of parliament from 2003-08 on a reserved seat, nominated by the PPP.
In 2013, Malani became the first non-Muslim Member of the Provincial Assembly after winning the Tharparkar-III general seat of the Sindh Assembly.
He had served as the chairperson of the Sindh Assembly's Standing Committee on Food, apart from being members of various standing committees during the last government's tenure.
Non-Muslims got the right to vote and contest on general seats of the parliament and provincial assemblies in 2002 after the then president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf made amendments in the Constitution.
They also have reserved seats in the Senate, national and provincial assemblies.