P. Kamalanathan

Datuk Kamalanathan s/o Panchanathan (பி.கமலநாதன்; born 18 October 1965) is a Malaysian politician. He is a member of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He was the former Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the seat of Hulu Selangor and former Deputy Minister of Education I.

Political career
P. Kamalanathan was elected to Parliament in a 2010 Hulu Selangor by-election after the death of the incumbent member Zainal Abidin Ahmad. The by-election saw the seat shift from Zainal's opposition People's Justice Party (PKR) to the Barisan Nasional. The MIC had sought to field veteran politician and defeated former Hulu Selangor Member of Parliament Palanivel Govindasamy, but Barisan Nasional's leaders wanted a lesser-known winnable candidate.

On 16 May 2013, after winning the 2013 general election, P. Kamalanathan was appointed as Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Learning II under the new cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Razak. After a cabinet reshuffle by the Prime Minister Najib Razak on 28 July 2015, P Kamalanathan was promoted and appointed as the Deputy Minister of Education II. He is tri-lingual; English, Bahasa Melayu and Tamil.

In the 2018 general election, P. Kamalanathan failed to be re-elected to the parliament.

Honours

 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia :
 * MY Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara - Officer (K.M.N.).svg Officer of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (KMN) (2010)
 * Kedah :
 * MY-KED Exalted Order of the Crown of Kedah - Knight Commander (DPMK).svg Knight Commander of the Exalted Order of the Crown of Kedah (DPMK) – Dato' (2016)
 * Federal Territory (Malaysia) :
 * MY-FED Darjah Mahkota Wilayah - Knight Commander - PMW.svg Commander of the Order of the Territorial Crown (PMW) – Datuk (2016)