[2][3] He ran in the 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, but was defeated in the first round of voting.

In 1976, Obhrai was on duty at a nearby Tanzanian airport when the Entebbe raid took place in neighbouring Uganda.

[6][7] He originally wanted to immigrate to Montreal, but decided to avoid Quebec and go to Calgary instead because of the recent election of René Lévesque's secessionist Parti Québécois.

He launched failed bids for the Progressive Conservative nomination for a provincial by-election in Calgary-McCall in 1995 and for Calgary-Montrose in 1996.

[5] During the 2011 Canadian federal election, Obhrai chose not to appear in an all-candidates debate in his riding, citing that his time was better spent talking with constituents.

[8][9] As a result of Gurbax Singh Malhi's defeat in the 2011 election, Obhrai became the longest serving member of parliament who was of South Asian and/or African ancestry.

[10] Obhrai penned a letter to the editor to the Calgary Herald and to his supporters saying that: "In my birth country, Tanzania, I would henceforth be referred to by the respectful title of Mzee.

[12] In September 2014, Obhrai received the Pride of India Award from the Indo-American Friends Group of Washington, D.C., and the Indo-American Business Chamber in a dinner ceremony held on Capitol Hill for his contributions towards strengthening Canada's political, social, and cultural relations with India and for his role in increasing Indian diaspora participation in pluralistic political activity.

[16] In December 2017, it was reported that Obhrai was being challenged for the Conservative nomination in Calgary Forest Lawn for the 2019 election by former Calgary-East MLA Moe Amery.