A Congress candidate whose attempts to sing her way into the voters’ hearts had earned her insults has silenced her critics by becoming the second Dalit woman from Kerala to enter the Lok Sabha.

Music graduate and social worker Ramya Haridas, 32, had faced ridicule and even sexual innuendos when she began singing folk songs at her campaign meetings in Alathur, one of the state’s two reserved constituencies.

Deepa Nishant, a Left-leaning lecturer and a well-known poet who was recently caught in a plagiarism controversy, had posted a Facebook comment comparing Ramya’s campaign to a reality show.

“The real issue should not be about a candidate’s singing and dancing skills or even religion. This is not some Idea Star Singer or temple committee election,” she wrote.

But Ramya’s style seemed to endear her to the voters, who gave her the sobriquet “little sister”. On Thursday, she defeated the sitting Left member, P.K. Biju, by more than 1.5 lakh votes.

“None of the controversies mattered to me. The people of Alathur took charge of my campaign and ensured I won,” Ramya, a native of Kunnamangalam in Kozhikode district, told The Telegraph on Sunday.

The only other Dalit woman to be elected to the Lok Sabha from Kerala was CPI candidate Bhargavi Thankapppan, who won from the Adoor constituency in 1971. However, Dakshayani Velayudhan, believed to be the first Dalit woman to graduate in the country, had represented the state in the Constituent Assembly of India.

Ramya, daughter of a manual labourer, had trained in Classical Carnatic music but chose to become a social activist rather than a professional singer. She worked for tribal communities with the Ekta Parishad, a mass-based Gandhian organisation, and represented the country at a youth conference in Japan in 2012.

Six years ago, Rahul Gandhi handpicked her at a party talent hunt. She became president of the Kunnamangalam block panchayat, a post she quit recently. She also made a name for herself by singing folk songs at party events and meetings — a practice she carried into her campaign but without instrumental accompaniment.

“My objective is to continue what I’m already doing at a local level,” she said. “Alathur is full of Dalit and tribal colonies that need help. My priority is to do my best for them.”

A member of a homeless Dalit family, Ramya has built a small house with a bank loan that she is struggling to repay.

One of the snidest remarks she had faced during the campaign came from Left Democratic Front convener A. Vijayaraghavan.

“She (Ramya) visited (Indian Union Muslim League leader) P.K. Kunhalikutty after being named a (Congress) candidate,” he told an LDF convention in Ponnani, Malappuram. “I don’t know what will happen to her now.”

Vijayaraghavan was clearly alluding to the “ice cream parlour” sex racket of 1997 in which Kunhalikutty was implicated — along with many other politicians — and acquitted by a court.

After her landslide win, Kunhalikkutty posted a photograph of his family with Ramya.

A court case is pending against the LDF convener based on a police complaint by Ramya.