Ludy Luiz, former Anglo Indian nominated member in the Kerala assembly (2001-06), told IANS that this is the first time that a person from the community in Kerala has got nominated to the Lok Sabha.

'Today Kerala has the largest population of our community in the country - it has crossed 1.30 lakh. We have a lot of issues with regards to job reservation and college admissions. In Kerala our community falls under the Other Backward Communities but in the rest of the country we are not in that list,' said Luiz.

Kevin D. Rozario, state general secretary of the Union of Anglo Indian Associations, thanked the All India Congress Committee for nominating Dias.

'Of the nearly 200,000 of our community members in the country, more than half are in this state. But this is the first time that we have got a nomination. We are delighted because we have one of our people who will raise issues concerning us,' said Rozario.