New Zealand First's sole Indian-origin candidate, Mahesh Bindra, has revealed the reason for his sudden withdrawal from the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate last month.
In an exclusive interview with RNZ, Bindra denied any friction with the party leadership of New Zealand First.
"There is absolutely no basis to the rumours floating around that I stepped back from my candidature because I was ranked very low on the party list," Bindra said. "I have had very open and honest communications with my leader Winston Peters over the past 16 years, so there is no question of any friction between me and the party leadership."
Bindra also denied that an unspecified complaint against him had been lodged with the party.
"It is also not true that a complaint was made against me to the party, indicating a potential inquiry against me. … If there was any truth to it, knowing Winston, ... he would have discussed it with me. He would have asked for my reply. But nothing like that ever happened."
New Zealand First confirmed that no such complaint had been made against Bindra.
Bindra said he withdrew from the race because he had business commitments in India he couldn't neglect.
"I am involved in a rather decent size brewery and hospitality business back in India," he said. "We had to stop operations during Covid like everybody else. Now we need to revive that business because there's a lot at stake. This will require frequent travel to India at short notice. I can't do this if I become an MP as it wouldn't be fair to my caucus, my party and the taxpayers."
When asked why he accepted the nomination to run in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu race despite knowing about these prior commitments in India, Bindra said recent developments had made his candidacy no longer possible.
"It was a bit iffy earlier. But later on, during the campaign, I was informed that there's no other way for the business to carry on and my travel would have to be frequent," he said. "Another reason is my ailing mother, who is 88. ... For her sake as well, I have to go to India quite often.
"That's why I went to Winston and informed him of my decision to withdraw. I am still with the party and at some stage if the party needs me, I will be happy to contribute."
