Till 2016, Rajni Rawat was the Vice President of the Uttarakhand state women's wing
Raipur:
Uttarakhand's only transgender candidate in the upcoming state elections, Rajni Rawat, shares an intriguing commonality with Chief Minister Harish Rawat. Apart from their last names - though they are not related - Rajni Rawat and Harish Rawat are the only two candidates contesting from two seats simultaneously for the upcoming polls. An 'independent' contesting from Raipur and Dharmapur, 47-year-old Rajni Rawat is no political novice. Till 2016, she was the Vice President of the Uttarakhand state women's wing, under the Harish Rawat-led Congress.
In 2013, she also contested as the Bahujan Samaj Party's mayoral candidate in Dehradun and lost by a small margin, beating the Congress candidate that year.
"People are now getting fed up with the BJP and the Congress. Especially the turncoats. Both parties have inducted them, and both parties have betrayed me," says Rajni Rawat, while organising her campaign affairs in Raipur, close to Dehradun.
"I have been associated with more than one party before. I want to serve people, but I felt that being a transgender candidate, other parties have taken advantage of me. Even the Supreme Court has decreed that transgenders should be given all the rights. And the Congress just betrayed me," says Rajni Rawat.
"They (Congress) repeatedly promised me a ticket from Raipur but on the last minute it was given to someone else. That's why I have decided to contest independently," she says.
Her supporters say that like her political symbol, the truck, Rajni Rawat is far from a political light weight. "Yet she is different from both political parties. She looks out for the welfare of the poor," says 65-year-old Aashima, a supporter.
"Not just the poor, she looks out for the interest of women, transgenders, minorities even. Even the local SC and ST groups can find resolution of their grievances with Rajni Rawat," says another supporter.
Political opponents like the Congress maintain that they gave Rajni Rawat a fair chance. "Congress has given her a lot of respect. We even made her women's chief. There are only 70 tickets and it isn't easy to accommodate everyone. We even pleaded with her but she didn't relent," said MD Joshi, chief spokesperson of the state Congress Committee.
For Rajni Rawat, the election is an opportunity to evolve a new leadership beyond the two main parties who have ruled the state for the last 17 years. "I support all the other independent candidates fighting in this state. In fact, all the independents who win assembly seats, we have decided not to go into any other party and form our own party," said Rajni Rawat.
In 2013, she also contested as the Bahujan Samaj Party's mayoral candidate in Dehradun and lost by a small margin, beating the Congress candidate that year.
"People are now getting fed up with the BJP and the Congress. Especially the turncoats. Both parties have inducted them, and both parties have betrayed me," says Rajni Rawat, while organising her campaign affairs in Raipur, close to Dehradun.
"I have been associated with more than one party before. I want to serve people, but I felt that being a transgender candidate, other parties have taken advantage of me. Even the Supreme Court has decreed that transgenders should be given all the rights. And the Congress just betrayed me," says Rajni Rawat.
"They (Congress) repeatedly promised me a ticket from Raipur but on the last minute it was given to someone else. That's why I have decided to contest independently," she says.
Her supporters say that like her political symbol, the truck, Rajni Rawat is far from a political light weight. "Yet she is different from both political parties. She looks out for the welfare of the poor," says 65-year-old Aashima, a supporter.
"Not just the poor, she looks out for the interest of women, transgenders, minorities even. Even the local SC and ST groups can find resolution of their grievances with Rajni Rawat," says another supporter.
Political opponents like the Congress maintain that they gave Rajni Rawat a fair chance. "Congress has given her a lot of respect. We even made her women's chief. There are only 70 tickets and it isn't easy to accommodate everyone. We even pleaded with her but she didn't relent," said MD Joshi, chief spokesperson of the state Congress Committee.
For Rajni Rawat, the election is an opportunity to evolve a new leadership beyond the two main parties who have ruled the state for the last 17 years. "I support all the other independent candidates fighting in this state. In fact, all the independents who win assembly seats, we have decided not to go into any other party and form our own party," said Rajni Rawat.
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