Over the past one decade transgender people have lost foothold in Madhya Pradesh politics. The state was the pioneer in the country in electing transgender to public offices. Way back in February 2000, Shabnam Mousi was elected as an MLA in a bye-election from the Sohagpur constituency in Shahdol district of the state. In 2001, Kamla Jaan was elected as mayor of Katni. Then, in December 2009, Kamla Bua became the mayor of Sagar Municipal Corporation.
These elections had won nation-wide publicity with focus on the fact that the transgender with no families of their own would genuinely work for the people, rather than feathering their own nests. However, since then, the tide has turned against the transgender people and they no longer seem to be drawing popular support. Neither are the political parties interested in fielding them.
Click here for latest updates on Lok Sabha Elections 2019
Shabnam Mousi is bitter about it. “I had visited PCC office to seek ticket from Congress (in the last assembly polls) but I was insulted and thrown out. PCC chief Kamal Nath did not even meet me. Both the BJP and the Congress are ‘chors’ (thieves). They are not interested in doing anything for us,” Shabnam Mousi told Free Press over phone.
Kamla Bua is equally sore with political parties. “They all want money and I don’t have it. Why will I pay Rs 25 lakh to any party? And if I will, won’t I try to recover four times the amount?” the former mayor demanded to know. Suraiya Nayak, who had unsuccessfully contested assembly election from Bhopal North constituency in 2008, says, “Leaders of all political parties come to us, seeking our votes. But they never field us as candidates. Why should they behave like this?”
Currently, there is no transgender leader or senior party worker in the state. As for outsiders, why should we consider them when we have our own dedicated band of workers? If we ignore them and pick an outsider, won’t it disappoint them? Winnability is the prime criteria to select candidates. We do believe in gender equality and that is why we give tickets to women.
Rajneesh Agarwal,
MP BJP spokesperson
We have nothing against transgender. Candidates are decided through a long organisational process. In all political parties, surveys are conducted to find out who is popular in a given area. Whosoever is found fit and meets the expectations gets ticket. If any transgender will fit in our criterion, we will definitely field them.
Deepti Singh,
MP Congress spokesperson
FROM THE ARCHIVE
CONSTITUENCY NAME: Sagar
Sagar Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. This constituency has been reserved for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes since 1967. It covers parts of Sagar and Vidisha districts.
Sagar Lok Sabha constituency comprises the following eight Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) segments:
Members of Parliament
