Madhu Kinnar Elected India’s First Transgender Mayor

Transgender Independent-Mayoral Candidate Madhu Kinnar has won the mayoral election of Chhattisgarh's Raigarh Municipal Corporation by 4,537 votes against Bharatiya Janata Party member Mahaveer Guruji reports NDTV. Kinnar, a 35-year-old trans woman belonging to the Dalit community, is the first transgender person to elected as mayor of an Indian city.

Kinnar issued a statement regarding her historic win:

"People have shown faith in me. I consider this win as love and blessings of people for me. I'll put in my best efforts to accomplish their dreams."

"I only spent Rs. 60,000-70,000 from my earnings during my campaign. It was the public support that encouraged me to enter the poll fray for the first time and because of their support only, I emerged as the winner."

Kinnar, whose birth name is Naresh Chauhan, studied up to eighth standard and spent most of her life in different works including collecting money from dancing and singing on trains in her youth.

The Advocate adds:

However, not everyone is celebrating Kinnar’s history-making win. "There was no Modi wave in Raigarh this time. People of Raigarh were fed up with the corruption of BJP, hence they voted for Madhu. It is not Madhu Kinnar's victory, but it's a loss of BJP," Raigarh district Congress (urban) president Narendra Negi said.

Nevertheless, Kinnar’s opposition will not contest the outcome. "We accept the decision of people and we will review it," said BJP district president Rajesh Sharma.

Last April, the Indian Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling recognizing transgender people as a third gender.