Chennai: In a first, a 33-year-old transgender C Devi has decided to contest upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. Devi will battle it out against none other than AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa in the RK Nagar constituency in Chennai.
Hailing from Tamil Nadu's Salem district, Devi will contest on behalf of the Tamil party, Naam Tamilar Katchi.
Devi was 16 years old when she realised she was a transgender person and wanted to undergo a sex-change operation.
Even though she faced opposition from her parents, she went ahead with the sex change operation when she was 17 years old.
Devi has worked with various NGOs from 2004, focusing on the empowerment of sex workers and transgender people.
In 2009, she started a home called Thaimadi for the homeless, which now hosts more than 60 residents.
“I have worked with Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi ever since the party was floated. I empathise with the cause of Eelam Tamils and care about the general well-being of Tamils. I will strive to provide quality education and health care in the constituency,” Devi told The Hindu.
Talking about her election campaign, she said, “I’m going to focus on the upliftment of the poor, on providing clean drinking water and on better employment for the people in the constituency.”
She asks, “Why should men and women alone decide the fate of our country? The third gender must also have a say in the affairs of the country, is it not?”
