Three transgender persons in fray for TN urban local body polls

Ganga Nayak, a 49-year-old transgender, is contesting as a DMK candidate in ward 37 in Vellore Corporation. A resident of old town in Vellore, Ganga has been a DMK member for over 20 years. She is a social activist and serves as secretary of the South India Transgender Association. “I am confident of winning the polls because I have the support of the public. They gave me hope to contest the polls,” she said.

Jayadevi will be contesting on an AIADMK ticket in ward 112 in the Teynampet zone of the Chennai Corporation. Members of Jayadevi’s family have been AIADMK loyalists. She herself has been a primary member of AIADMK for over 15 years. Similarly, Rajamma is a BJP candidate in ward 76 in the Tiru Vi Ka Nagar zone of Chennai Corporation.

In the 2020 local body polls, transgender Riya (30) became the first person from her community to get elected as a panchayat union ward member in Tiruchengode Panchayat town in Namakkal district of TN as a DMK member. She contested in Karuvampatty ward and beat her opponent by a margin of 950 votes.

Trans Activist Grace Banu (31), who bagged TN government’s first-ever ‘Best Third-Gender’ award last year congratulated the candidates. At the same time, she also pressed the need for a reserved area for transgenders.

“We had been fighting for this recognition for so many years. At a time, all the major political parties in the state have given an opportunity for our community members and we truly appreciate this gesture. This is like them providing solidarity to us. However, this is not the only solution. We need a reserved area for trans people just like how it is been provided to other marginalised communities. The reason behind this demand is that if it is implemented, trans people would represent each of the political parties in the state which will bring more recognition to our community and that itself is a victory for us,” she said.