‘Removing poverty’ is Bala’s poll mantra
INDORE: Dressed in a purple sari, Bala Vaishwara sits in a red plastic chair in Lahiya colony, a mixed class neighbourhood of Indore city. It’s 3pm and women have gathered to hear her speak. In the absence of a festooned stage, this is how independent candidate Bala didi — as the 28-year-old transgender woman standing from Indore-2 is called — is conducting her door-to-door campaign. “I don’t have a family. For people like me, the public is my family,” she tells them.
As she leaves, Rani Thakur, a 36-year-old housewife, says, “She said the right thing. For her, the public is the only family she has. Kinnars must be given a chance to come forward.” Kinnar is one of the many socio-cultural communities of transwomen in the subcontinent. Wherever Vaishwara goes, people seek her blessing, as a kinnar’s good wishes are considered auspicious. “Politicians touch people’s feet during elections, but people here are touching mine,” she says.
India’s first transgender politician was from Madhya Pradesh — in 1998, Shabnam Mausi Bano was elected MLA from Sohagpur constituency. Two transgender women were elected mayors in 1999 and 2009, but the courts declared their win void, as they had won from seats reserved for women. After a 2014 judgment by the Supreme Court, which granted legal recognition to the third gender and held that transpersons have the right to selfidentify their gender, this round of elections has seen an upswing in the number of transwomen candidates. In Telangana, which goes to the polls on December 7, Muvvala Chandramukhi will contest from Gosha Mahal. In Chhattisgarh, four transwomen have contested as independent candidates.
A Bharatiya Janata Party stronghold since 1993, Indore-2 saw incumbent Ramesh Mendola win by a record margin in 2013. The Congress candidate is Mohan Singh Sengar.
“You first have to get people to stop thinking only in terms of two parties to vote for,” says 40-yearold Radha Hariyale, a resident of Raghunandan Bagh, tells Vaishwara. “You’ve tried both parties. You’ve tried men and women, now try me,” she replies.
Vaishwara’s support comes from Shram Andolan, a group of unions of handcart pullers, domestic workers and auto rickshaw drivers. Anil Yadav, a member of the auto rickshaw drivers’ union, said he supported her because he thinks she will bring the change the area needs.
Yadav handles her social media and her ‘chela’ Akanksha hands out pamphlets with Bala didi’s campaign promises, which include “Fight for the outstanding dues of mill workers”; “Establish a hawker zone and ensure that ‘thelawalas’ can freely work for their money”; “Electricity, water, health facilities for poor neighbourhoods”. The pamphlet does not mention the kinnar community. Her election plank is poverty. “I, like you, know what it is like to be poor,” Vaishwara says. “I’m not saying don’t vote for a man or a woman. I’m saying, vote for a good candidate.”