Kozhikode: Indian Youth Congress leader Ramya Haridas is all set to contest Lok Sabha elections from Alathur reserved constituency in Kerala. But it is no cake walk.
Haridas is pitted against seasoned CPM politician PK Biju, who is an incumbent MP and has won Lok Sabha elections from the constituency in 2009 and as well as 2014. But Ramya is anything but alone in this fight.
A block panchayat president of Kunnamangalam, Haridas has a dearth of resources when compared to the top politicians in gathering campaigning funds.
John Samuel, a former director at the United Nations Development Programme has recently launched a fundraising campaign for Ramya Haridas.
In a Facebook post, he said, “If you want candidates from economically and socially backward sections to reach Parliament without the support of the rich, contribute to their election fund. I will give Rs 25,000 to the election fund of Ramya Haridas. Those who are willing to contribute, be it Rs 100, Rs 1000 or Rs 10,000, put a comment here or let me know in a message. Their party affiliation doesn’t matter. In Kerala, Ramya could be the first woman leader who rose to the top from the lowest strata of society only by her hard work. Hence her entry to Parliament would script history.”
Adding further, he wrote, “The Ramya Haridas Challenge Fund is about showing solidarity with the candidate and not sympathising with her. I am not collecting fund for her from anyone. Showing solidarity with one particular candidate does not mean that I am against her opposition candidate. PK Biju is a candidate with integrity. He got the chance to be in Parliament for 10 years”.
Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has also appealed his followers to donate for the 32-year-old leader.
Ramya Haridas is taking on the CPI(M) in Kerala’s Alathur constituency, where both my parents’ ancestral villages lie.
If elected, she will become the first female Dalit MP from the state.
Please donate to her campaign at – https://t.co/f6PHrcmFk6#RamyaInParliament
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 24, 2019
Elections in the state of Kerala will take place on April 23, in the third phase of elections. The last date of filing nomination is April 4, while the candidates can withdraw their applications by April 8. Kerala sends 20 MPs to the Lower House of the Parliament.
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