Ramya Haridas

From Bharatpedia, an open encyclopedia


Ramya Haridas
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
for Alathur
Assumed office
23 May 2019
Preceded byP.K. Biju
ConstituencyAlathur, Kerala
Personal details
Born11 January 1986
Kozhikode, Kerala, India
NationalityIndian
Political partyIndian National Congress (INC)
Parent(s)P. Haridas
Radha
ProfessionPolitician
Social worker

Ramya Haridas is an Indian politician and social worker, who is serving as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha (MP) from Alathur, Kerala, since May 2019. She is a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) party in the state of Kerala and the daughter of All India Mahila Congress worker Radha. She is the only female parliamentarian to be elected from the state of Kerala in the elections of 2019. She is also the second-ever Dalit woman MP to have been elected from Kerala.

Political career[edit]

Ramya began her political career in 2011 when she was shortlisted in a talent hunt programme conducted by Indian National Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. She also received personal mentorship from Rahul Gandhi.

Her mother, Radha's affiliation with Kerala Mahila Congress that lead Ramya's involvement in electoral politics. She started off as being a member of the Kerala Students Union and later joined the Youth Congress. She was also associated with land rights struggles through her involvement with Ekta parishad, a people's movement working for social and land reforms related issues across the country. She is the ninth women Loksabha MP from Kerala.

Elections 2019[edit]

When her candidature for 2019 elections was announced, she was serving as the Block Panchayat President for Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode district. She was the only Lok Sabha candidate from Kerala handpicked by Congress President Rahul Gandhi.[1]

In the 2019 Indian general election to parliament, she won from Alathur (Lok Sabha constituency) with a margin of 1,58,968 votes against the Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate P. K. Biju.[2]

Amongst the 2019 cohort of ministers, Haridas happens to be one of the least wealthy politicians- her total assets valuing just Rs 22,816.[3]

Haridas also resorted to a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for her election expenses. It was a huge success as it raised more than Rs 10 lakhs. John Samuel, a former director of United Nations Development Programme, and also someone who was involved in raising funds for Kerala Floods Relief spearheaded her fundraising campaign that was called' Ramya Haridas Challenge Fund.[4] Shashi Tharoor also shared her campaign appeal on his Facebook page.[5] During her election campaign in Alathur, Haridas claims she had only three sets of dresses. By the end of her campaign, she had 56 of them, all donated by her supporters.[6]

Haridas is also a singer and she used her talent to attract voters during her election campaign. Several voters would flock to hear her sing during her campaign.[7]

She also lodged a complaint with the police against Communist party of India (Marxist) politician A Vijayaraghavan for making a sexually loaded remark about her.[8]

Personal life[edit]

Ramya Haridas hails from a very humble background with her father being a daily wage labourer and her mother, a tailor.[9] She stays in a house allotted under the erstwhile Indira Awas Yojana, a housing programme introduced by the Rajiv Gandhi government.[10]

She has finished her tenth standard along with diploma courses in early childhood education and fashion design.

References[edit]

  1. "Ramya Haridas: Singing her way to victory". The Week. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  2. "Ramya Haridas: Singing her way to victory". The Week. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  3. "Ramya Haridas becomes Kerala's Second Dalit Female MP". The Quint. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  4. "Fundraiser for candidate Ramya Haridas has no political overtones". OnManorama. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  5. "Shashi Tharoor". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  6. "Ramya Haridas: Singing her way to victory". The Week. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  7. "Now, Ramya sings a victory song". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  8. "Sexist remark trouble for CPM veteran". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  9. "Ramya Haridas becomes Kerala's Second Dalit Female MP". The Quint. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  10. "Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana", Wikipedia, 31 May 2019, retrieved 19 June 2019

External links[edit]

Information red.svg
Scan the QR code to donate via UPI
Dear reader, We kindly request your support in maintaining the independence of Bharatpedia. As a non-profit organization, we rely heavily on small donations to sustain our operations and provide free access to reliable information to the world. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to consider donating to our cause, as it would greatly aid us in our mission. Your contribution would demonstrate the importance of reliable and trustworthy knowledge to you and the world. Thank you.

Please select an option below or scan the QR code to donate
₹150 ₹500 ₹1,000 ₹2,000 ₹5,000 ₹10,000 Other