A Hindu candidate also emerged victorious in the recent general elections in Pakistan.
In all Pakistani assemblies, the non-Muslim minorities of the country have representation, however, their representatives are elected on reserved seats.
However, Mahesh Kumar Malani, a candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) from Tharparkar reached the National Assembly on a general seat.
Interestingly, he defeated a joint candidate of two religious parties, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP) and Jamiat Ulema Pakistan.
Malani won the seat by a large margin.
Malani who has been elected to provincial and national assemblies at least twice in the past, faced rivals from religious parties Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP) and Jamiat Ulema Pakistan.
His prime opponent was former Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, who was representing the Grand Democratic Alliance.
Malani secured 132,061 votes against Rahim’s 113,346. His rival from religious parties could win less than 2,500 votes.
In the 2018 general election, Malani became the first non-Muslim candidate in Pakistan to win a general seat in the National Assembly when he secured 51.14% votes in the same constituency, named NA-222 back then.
