Priyanca Radhakrishnan gets high ranking
Venkat Raman –
The fact that Priyanca Radhakrishnan has secured a high, winnable place on the Labour’s List of candidates announced on May 2, 2017 and published almost immediately in our Web Edition and Social Media, was not news at all.
That was a promise that Labour Party Leader Andrew Little had made to this newspaper during an interview in the office of the then Mt Roskill MP Phil Goff on February 9, 2015.
And Ms Radhakrishnan has been ‘everyone’s favourite’ in the Labour Party.
Our frontpage story in our issue dated February 15, 2015 quoted Mr Little as saying, “It is a pity that we do not have a person of Indian origin representing the Labour Party in Parliament. I propose to make amendments in the next general election and ensure that we have at least one Member of Parliament from one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic communities in New Zealand.”
Mr Little was not the Party’s Leader when the Selection Committee finalised the Labour List for the general election held on September 20, 2014.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan, who has been a party worker and Deputy Chair of the Labour Electorate Committee in Wairarapa, was Number 23 on the Party’s List, ‘too low’ to make it to the debating chamber.
Mr Little and most other Labour Party MPs and leaders were keen on enlisting Ms Radhakrishnan in an elevated position to ensure her entry to Parliament after the general election on September 23, 2017.
Building the economy
Ms Radhakrishnan, who is also Labour Party’s candidate in the Maungakiekie constituency
will be the first South Indian to enter Parliament. Born in Kerala, her parents are now settled down in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. As well as English, she speaks fluent Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil, which will be useful in communicating with the people of her Constituency and others.
“Labour will build a successful, sustainable economy through a focus on investment, revitalising a culture of innovation and by attracting industry to our regions. We must grow our economy from one that is driven by land, banking and speculation to one that is innovative and is of high-value. The right kind of capital investment is an essential component to growing a sustainable economy,” she said.
Ms Radhakrishnan has been writing for Indian Newslink for more than three years.
Her latest column appears in Electionlink of this issue.
Photo Caption:
Priyanca Radhakrishnan
