RAIPUR: Madhu Bai Kinnar, the first transgender mayor in the industrial town of Raigarh, has announced her candidacy for the upcoming assembly elections as a representative of the regional party Janta Congress Chhattisgarh.
In its fourth list of candidates, JCC-J has revealed that they will field the former mayor to compete against the incumbent Congress legislator Prakash Sakrajeet Nayak and IAS officer turned politician O P Choudhary from the BJP.
In January 2015, Madhu Kinnar made history in the state by winning the mayoral election of the Raigarh Municipal Corporation, defeating candidates from both the BJP and Congress. Madhu, who is around 43 years old, hails from the Dalit community.
The transgender candidate is among the 27 aspirants nominated to contest the upcoming elections. The list includes candidates such as Sukhmanti Singh (Bharatpur-Sonhat, ST), Adityaraj David (Manendragarh), Sunil Gupta (Bhatgaon), Gyani Singh (Ramanujganj-ST), Itaur Tirky (Lundra-ST), James Toppo (Sitapur-ST), Nehru Lakra (Pathalgaon-ST), Parimal Yadav (Kharsia), Jogendra Ekka (Dharamjaigarh-ST), Balmukund Rathia (Rampur), Dinesh Kaushik (Takhatpur), Neha Bharti (Bilha), and Gorelal Barman (Pamgarh-SC).
In addition, Dr. Anamika Pal (Basna), Yogesh Sahu (Baloda Bazar), Jitendra Banjare (Bhatapara), Bhagat Harbans (Raipur West), Makhan Tamrakar (Abhanpur), Bhuneshwar Nishad (Rajim), Tejeshwar Kurre (Kurud), Shakuntala Dewangan (Sanjari Balod), Dhalesh Sahu (Durg Rural), Rishi Tandon (Durg city), Dr. Diwakar Bharti (Vaishali Nagar), Riti Deshlahra (Ahiwara-SC), and Doman Deshlahra (Sajja) have also been nominated to run in the elections.
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