Greens asked student not to stand due to 'fears over her student visa' as row over MSP's status rumbles on

By TOM GORDON, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 20:09, 20 May 2026 | Updated: 20:10, 20 May 2026 The Greens have been accused of favouring a transgender student over a female one in the MSP visa row. Sai Shraddha Suresh Viswanathan said she was asked by the party last year to stand down as a Holyrood candidate as she was on a student visa and agreed. But the party then let self-styled ‘queer Tamil immigrant’ Q Manivannan stand despite them also being on a student visa. Manivannan is now an Edinburgh list MSP on £77,710, but may have to quit after the visa runs out this year. Ms Viswanathan, president of the National Union of Students in Scotland, said she had been ‘let down’ by the ‘discrepancy’ in how candidates were treated. The Scottish Greens denied anyone had been ‘blocked’ from standing, although that was not Ms Viswanathan’s allegation. Sai Shraddha Suresh Viswanathan, seen here with John Swinney, claims she was asked by the Scottish Greens to stand down as a candidate because she was on a student visa Scottish Tory Stephen Kerr said: 'The Scottish Greens must come clean on this shambles. It appears to be a blatant case of double standards, and they should explain why there was one rule put in place for one prospective candidate and a different one for another candidate. ‘Voters deserve to know why the Scottish Greens forced one candidate here on a student visa to step down but were happy for another in the same situation to proceed, and who has ultimately been elected.’ Ms Viswanathan, who like Manivannan is originally from India, told BBC Scotland she was ranked third on Greens’ North East list in internal selections. But a party official phoned her in July and asked to withdraw as a candidate due to her visa status. She said she was advised the party had legal advice suggesting she couldn’t become an MSP as she couldn’t guarantee staying in Scotland throughout her term. Ms Viswanathan told the Mail she was ‘absolutely thrilled’ by the success of the Scottish Greens at the election and the diversity of its 15-strong MSP group. But she added: ‘I am let down by the internal selection process of the party as I was asked to withdraw from the elections due to my visa status for which I was informed legal advice was taken by the party. ‘Ultimately, there has been a discrepancy in how different candidates have been advised by the party.  'I have been sitting on this since July 2025 when I was asked to withdraw even though my position on the regional list was on a high ranking. It has taken a significant toll on my health and well-being.’ Reform UK MSP Thomas Kerr wrote on X: ‘She obviously had the wrong pronouns for this bunch of hypocritical chancers. What a farce.’ A Scottish Greens spokesman said: ‘Nobody has been blocked from standing because of their visa status.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.