Kerala Assembly polls 2026: protest builds against Ramya Haridas’ reported candidature in Chirayinkeezhu constituency

A section of Congress workers in Thiruvananthapuram have raised strong protests against the reported move to field former MP Ramya Haridas as the party’s candidate in the Chirayinkeezhu Assembly constituency.

Criticising the attempt to bring in Ms. Haridas, who hails from Kozhikode, to contest in Chirayinkeezhu, the protesters said that an “outsider” candidate should not be imposed on the constituency. They demanded that the party consider a candidate from Thiruvananthapuram district instead.

Several local leaders who were earlier part of the potential candidate list have reportedly submitted a complaint to the party central leadership on the issue.

They claim 11 out of the 14 ‘mandalam’ committee presidents in the constituency, along with three District Congress Committee (DCC) general secretaries, have formally registered their protest against the move to field Ms. Haridas.

The protesters also pointed out that Chirayinkeezhu is a Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved constituency, with a large population of Dalit communities, including members of the Kerala Pulayar Mahasabha, Thandan and Paravan communities. These groups together account for nearly 65,000 votes in the constituency, they claimed, adding that ignoring local representation could weaken the party’s electoral prospects.