Overview
Mahendra Reddy is a Fijian politician and former Member of the Parliament of Fiji. He served as the Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment from 2017 to 2022, and earlier held cabinet responsibilities for education and culture.
Before entering electoral politics, Reddy was appointed Chair of the Commerce Commission in March 2009. In July 2014, he resigned as Commerce Commission director and as chairman of the Reserve Bank of Fiji board to join the FijiFirst party and contest the general election. He was elected to Parliament in the 2014 election, securing 5,398 votes.
In September 2014, Reddy was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Education, National Heritage, Culture and Arts. On 4 July 2017, he appeared in court on charges of bribery and using undue influence in connection with allegations that he had offered a water supply to a school in exchange for the school manager's vote, and he resigned from his ministerial post. In December 2017, the charges were dropped owing to a lack of conclusive evidence, and he was subsequently appointed as the Minister for Waterways.
Reddy was re-elected in the 2022 election with 2,654 votes. On 26 January 2023, he resigned from Parliament and was replaced as a Member of Parliament by Penioni Ravunawa.
References
Adapted from the English Wikipedia article on Mahendra Reddy.