Madhu Kinnar receives the election certificate from district collector Mukesh Bansal

Raipur, Jan. 4:)A eunuch on Sunday scripted history by winning the Mayor’s election in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh Municipal Corporation, defeating his nearest rival from BJP.

Madhu, 35, belonging to Dalit community, is the first eunuch to get elected as Mayor in the state.

A transgender who earned a living by singing in Howrah-Mumbai trains today became the first eunuch mayor in Chhattisgarh, winning the post in industrial hub Raigarh, 200km from here.

Madhu Naresh Kinnar, a 35-year-old Independent candidate, bagged 33,168 votes to defeat the BJP’s Mahavir Guru by 4,537 votes. Unlike Calcutta, Raigarh holds a citywide direct election for mayor alongside the conventional ward-wise polls for councillors.

“I’m a kinnar (eunuch). People voted for me as they believe I will address development issues,” said Madhu, who gave up singing in trains in October after the local eunuch community decided to contest the November civic polls and chose her to represent it.

“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,” Madhu said after winning the election.
After studying upto eighth standard, Madhu, whose real name is Naresh Chauhan, took up different works and used to collect money by singing and dancing in trains.

“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,” Madhu added.

The ruling BJP in the state had fielded Mahaveer Guruji for the election, denying ticket to its incumbent Mayor Mahendra Chauhatha, while Congress had shown confidence in Jethuram Manhar for the third time.

On Madhu’s victory, the main opposition, Congress, said that “it is BJP’s loss, not Madhu’s 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.

Accepting the defeat, the BJP said that they will review the people’s mandate.

“We accept the decision of people and we will review it,” BJP district president Rajesh Sharma said.

The outgoing BJP Mayor Chauhatha, who was denied ticket this time, said the people have rejected the candidates of both the leading parties.

The selection of candidate should be done looking into the situation, he said.

The counting of votes for the two-phase civic body polls for 154 urban bodies in the state is underway.

She can expect to be luckier than India’s first two eunuch mayors, both of whom were unseated by courts for contesting posts reserved for women. Raigarh’s mayoral post is not reserved.

Kamla Jaan became mayor of Katni in united Madhya Pradesh – to which Chhattisgarh then belonged – as an Independent in December 1999. She was unseated after a two-and-a-half-year term marked by successful development projects and persistent insults from political opponents.

Asha Devi was elected from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh in 2000 and ousted in 2003. She passed away in 2013.

Madhya Pradesh has been a pioneer in electing eunuchs, having sent Shabnam Mausi to its Assembly in 1998.

Overall, the Chhattisgarh results have jolted the ruling BJP, reducing its tally from six to four of the state’s 10 municipalities. It won just 37 of the 105 nagar panchayats, the Congress securing 50.

In Raigarh, the BJP and the Congress tied with 16 seats each while seven went to Independents. The Congress wrested the Raipur mayor’s post from the BJP.

Having declared that the civic polls would witness a Congress wipe-out, a defensive chief minister Raman Singh said: “The results were not expected; the party will examine the reasons.”

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chhattisgarh-Eunuch-Madhu-Kinnar-wins-Raigarh-mayoral-election/articleshow/45750881.cms