Who is Navya Haridas, software engineer and BJP candidate taking on Priyanka Gandhi in Wayanad bypolls?

The 39-year-old state general secretary of the Mahila Morcha said that she was not expecting to be nominated for the elections and calls her entry into politics 'accidental.'

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) announced on Saturday that Navya Haridas, a two-time councillor in the Kozhikode Corporation, will be the NDA candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election.

Navya has been pitted against Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and CPI's Sathyan Mokeri, the Left candidate, in the high-profile constituency for the November 13 by-election.

A software engineer by profession, Navya serves as the parliamentary party leader for the BJP in the corporation.

The 39-year-old state general secretary of the Mahila Morcha said that she was not expecting to be nominated for the elections, a report by the The Indian Express mentioned. “I got an official confirmation only after my ticket was announced on news channels," she said.

Navya's entry into politics, in her own words, is "accidental".

While her family was associated with Sangh Parivar and RSS meetings at her family home in Kozhikode were a common occurrence, Navya did not think of becoming a full-time politician. She did participate in RSS student activities.

After obtaining her BTech degree, Navya worked with HSBC Bank as a software professional for two-and-a-half years. She got married to marine engineer Shobin Shyam in 2009 and then moved to Singapore. There, she continued to work at various software firms.

The big political turn in her life came in 2015 during a short trip to Kozhikode when the local body elections in Kerala were underway. It was during these elections that BJP approached Navya for a ticket for the first time.

“I had returned to Kozhikode for a short vacation with my children. It was election time, and the BJP approached me with a ticket, considering my family’s Sangh Parivar background. I was fielded from the general seat in the corporation. Overnight, I became the candidate. My plan was to return to Singapore if I had lost," she told the publication.

Navya did not have to return to her corporate life after the elections as she won the polls.

She did not just became a councillor in 2015 but, also retained her seat again in 2020.

The party again trusted her in the 2021 Kerala Assembly elections and fielded her from the Kozhikode South seat. Though Navya lost the elections to Indian National League candidate Ahamed Devarkovil, she ended up increasing the BJP vote share from 16.56 per cent in the 2016 Assembly polls to 20.89 per cent in the 2021 polls.

Being pitted against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra can prove to be a big political break for Navya and a chance to prove her prowess in the national political scene.

The by-election for Wayanad Lok Sabha seat became necessary after Rahul Gandhi, who won the Lok Sabha polls from there and Raebareli constituency, decided to vacate it.

(With PTI inputs)