Dhalla was politically active from a young age and volunteered for Winnipeg Liberal candidate David Walker in the 1988 federal election, and later became a prominent member of the MANITOBA Young Liberals. Dhalla worked on numerous political campaigns co-chairing different election committees and volunteering in many provincial and federal political campaigns in 1998, she was elected as youth representative the liberal part of Canada's standing committee on multiculturalism at the annual policy convention. Dhalla was elected as a delegate to the 1992 Liberal Leadership Conventin and was one of the first young liberals in Manitoba to support Paul Martin. Dhalla again supported Paul Martin's bid to become Liberal Party leader in 2003.