‘People have shown faith in me,’ says low-caste woman after victory in Raigarh months after historic court ruling on gender

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A low-caste transgender woman in central India has become the country’s first to win civic polls and be declared mayor.

Madhu Bai Kinnar won the municipal election in Raigarh in the central state of Chhattisgarh on Sunday, beating her rival from prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) by more than 4,500 votes, according to the state election commission.

Video footage showed Kinnar, 35, wearing a saree, folding her hands and greeting supporters who placed marigold garlands around her neck amid a blaze of camera flashes.

Kinnar, a member of the Dalit caste previously known as untouchables, had been earning a living by singing and dancing on trains, the Press Trust of India reported, but she stopped when asked to represent her community.

“People have shown faith in me,” Kinnar told reporters after winning the election. “I consider this win as love and blessings of people for me. I’ll put in my best efforts to accomplish their dreams.”

Kinnar’s win comes nine months after India’s highest court ruled that transgender people be legally recognised as gender-neutral. Often known as hijras, in south Asia, transgender people are classified as those who have had sex-change operations or who regard themselves as the opposite of their born gender.