Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 | Fight for national capital sees few south Indian candidates

New Delhi: Delhi could have had a Malayali as its first chief minister in the 1950s if not for the reluctance of C Krishnan Nair. However, candidates from south India do not find a place of prominence on the candidate lists of mainstream parties in the latest round of Assembly elections in the capital.

The then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru suggested Nair’s name at a meeting in March 1957. However, the Gandhi disciple, a Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi, then recommended 34-year-old Brahm Prakash for the post. The Assembly was disbanded in 1966, only to be revived in 1993.

If Nair, who fought the first two LS elections, chose not to take up the chair, the Congress fielded CM Stephen, another Malayali, in the New Delhi seat against AB Vajpayee, then in the Janata Party, in the 1977 LS polls after the Emergency. However, he lost after a good fight.

The only south Indian to enter the Delhi Assembly after its restoration was Meera Bharadwaj, who hails from Kerala, in 1998 when the Congress fielded her from Patparganj.

South Indian community leaders demand more representation. Delhi Tulu Siri president and Delhi Kannada Sangha vice president Vasant Shetty Bellare said mainstream parties only focus on certain specific states.

“I have been of the view that we should collectively bargain. There are a substantial number of Tamils, Kannadigas, Malayalis and Telugus,” he said.

A K Prasad, general secretary of the prominent Malayali cultural organisation ‘Jana Samskriti’, said it is encouraging to note that the CPI has given a ticket to a Malayali.

He suggested that other parties could emulate this by considering Malayalis, with an unofficial count putting their numbers at 10 lakh, and others for governance leadership roles.

In the 2025 elections, except for the CPI, no mainstream party has fielded a candidate from the southern parts of the country. The Left party has fielded Shejo Varghese Kurien — a 28-year-old Keralite sports trainer who has won the 800 metres and 1,500 metres five times in the Delhi State Championship — from Vikaspuri.

Shejo, who started his campaign two days ago with a shoestring budget, has released a four-page manifesto, promising a ‘People’s Water Bank’, ‘Happy Meals Project’, ‘Street Vendor Hubs’ and a ‘Three-tier Hospital System’. “People do not have a choice among youth,” he said.

The Peoples Green Party has fielded G Thulasidharan (60), another Malayali, from Dwarka. “My candidature is because the sitting AAP MLA did not work for the constituency. We have to address the drinking water problem, tanker mafia, and sewer issues,” he said.

Other south Indian candidates include Saravanan from the Rashtriya Manav Party in RK Puram, and D Nageshwara Rao from the Jatiya Jana Sena Party in New Delhi.

Shejo said there should be representation of all sections of the society, which also includes women and youth. “People from across India come to Delhi for jobs and studies. Many may not be inclined to enter politics. All parties should look at providing representation for all sections. It shouldn’t be a monopoly of some sections,” he said.