Bavani Veraiah

Summary

Bavani Veraiah (born 31 December 1973) is the DAP member of the Perak State Legislative Assembly for Malim Nawar, elected in November 2022 with a majority of 7,259 votes in her electoral debut. She holds the position of Women Secretary of DAP Perak and previously served as Executive Secretary of Pakatan Harapan Perak. In the state assembly, she has raised questions on affordable housing, public mental health services, and environmental issues affecting the Kampar district.

Biography

Bavani d/o Veraiah (born 31 December 1973), also known by the nickname Shasha, is a Malaysian politician and member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) serving as the Member of the Perak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Malim Nawar since November 2022 [1]. She is an Indian Malaysian who has held the position of Women Secretary of DAP Perak and previously served as Executive Secretary of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) of Perak, as well as coordinator of the Bentong parliamentary constituency [1]. In the 2022 general election (GE15), she was nominated by PH as one of ten new faces fielded by Perak DAP, contesting the Malim Nawar state seat for the first time [2]. She defeated three opponents — including incumbent Leong Cheok Keng of Warisan, Chin Woon Kheong of MCA-BN, and Sharifah Aemeera Najwa Syed Mohamed of PN-Bersatu — by a majority of 7,259 votes [1]. Since her election, Bavani has been active at the Perak State Legislative Assembly, raising issues including affordable housing for the B40 group, mental health services in public health clinics, and environmental concerns such as waste management and landfill capacity in the Kampar district (Sources: thestar.com.my, bernama.com, malaymail.com). Malim Nawar falls under the Kampar federal constituency in Perak and is divided into 17 polling districts [1]).

Known for

Bavani Veraiah is known as the first DAP member elected to represent the Malim Nawar state seat, winning the constituency in a four-corner contest at GE15 with a majority of 7,259 votes [1]. She is recognised for her party organisational roles — including Women Secretary of DAP Perak and former Executive Secretary of PH Perak — and for raising social policy issues in the Perak State Legislative Assembly, particularly on affordable housing and public mental health (Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavani_Veraiah, bernama.com, thestar.com.my).

Political positions

Based on her recorded interventions in the Perak State Legislative Assembly, Bavani Veraiah has raised questions on affordable housing policy, advocating for B40 home ownership and the state's mandatory housing mix requiring low-cost, medium-cost, and affordable units in larger developments [3]. She has also questioned the state government on mental health service capacity, including the number of psychological officers and the volume of mental health patients at public health clinics [4]. On environmental matters, she has raised concerns about waste management infrastructure in Kampar, including whether waste-to-energy technology could be adopted and what safeguards exist for public health around existing landfill sites [3]. No broader federal-level policy positions have been sourced from the allowlist.

Political career

1. Pre-2022Served as Executive Secretary of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) of Perak, and as coordinator of the Bentong parliamentary constituency.⛓
2. Pre-2022Appointed Women Secretary of DAP Perak, a position she continues to hold.⛓
3. October 2022Named by DAP as one of ten new faces to be fielded by Perak DAP in GE15, nominated to contest the Malim Nawar state seat.⛓
4. 19 November 2022Won the Malim Nawar state seat in GE15 on a PH-DAP ticket, defeating three candidates including incumbent Leong Cheok Keng (Warisan) by a majority of 7,259 votes.⛓
5. November 2022Took her seat as Member of the Perak State Legislative Assembly for Malim Nawar.⛓
6. July 2024Represented the state housing committee at the Rumah Perakku key handover event in Taman Tualang Baru, Tanjung Tualang, articulating the state's affordable housing policy for B40 households.⛓
7. December 2024Raised questions at the Perak State Legislative Assembly on mental health patient statistics and suicide cases in Perak, drawing responses on clinic capacity and psychological officer numbers.⛓
8. November 2025Raised questions in the Perak State Legislative Assembly on the Kampar landfill, waste-to-energy technology, and environmental health safeguards for the Kampar district.⛓

Election history

• 2022Malim Nawar (Perak State)Won⛓

Perspectives on key issues

• VerifiedFactsBavani Veraiah won Malim Nawar in November 2022 by a majority of 7,259 votes, defeating three candidates from Warisan, BN-MCA, and PN-Bersatu. She holds the Women Secretary post in DAP Perak and sits in the Perak State Legislative Assembly as an opposition member under a PH-led state opposition bloc.⛓
• GovernmentThe Perak state government (led by BN's Saarani Mohamad) has responded to Bavani's DUN questions on mental health, landfill management, and housing through the relevant state exco members, indicating her questions have drawn official state-level responses on these policy areas.⛓
• PublicPre-election reporting in Malim Nawar noted that voter loyalty in the constituency tended towards party affiliation over individual candidates, and that approximately 70 per cent of voters in Malim Nawar were Chinese voters who leaned toward DAP.⛓