India, April 5 -- Tamil Nadu-born Rini Sampath has become the first South Asian candidate to be on the ballot for the primary for the election for the mayor of Washington DC.

The 31-year-old Government contractor from the Democratic Party has based her election campaign on the theme 'Fix the Basics' and the promise of "A new DC".

"I'm not a politician. I don't owe any special interest groups. It's time for an outsider who is relentlessly focused on fixing our basic city services," Samapth says on her campaign website.

Born in Theni in Tamil Nadu, she came to the US as a seven-year-old and has been a resident of Washington DC for more than a decade. "It's clear we have a real path to victory. In just four weeks, we made the mayoral ball...