Madhya Pradesh: 49 third gender candidates to contest for Sarpanch post in Panchayat polls

Bhopal: There was a time when Shabnam Mausi Bano established a milestone by becoming the first third gender politician from India in 1998 when they were looked down upon and often bullied in the social scene. About 25 years later, out of the 8662 candidates who filed their nominations for the Sarpanch post in Panchayat polls in Madhya Pradesh, 49 candidates are reported to be third gender candidates.

About 2 lakh candidates in total have filed nominations till the last date of filing for the first phase of the three-tier panchayat elections in Madhya Pradesh. The process of filing nomination forms had started on May 30.

Scrutiny of nomination papers for the Panchayat elections will be held on June 7. The last date for the withdrawal of candidature is June 10. Election symbols will also be allotted on the same day.

As many as 49 candidates of the third gender have filed nominations for the post of sarpanch and one for district panchayat member.

Voting for the first phase will be held on June 25, for the second phase on July 1 and for the third phase on July 8 from 7 am to 3 pm in all places. Declaration of election results for Panch-Sarpanch and Janpad Panchayat member is expected on July 14 and for Zilla Panchayat member on July 15.

A total of 1,94,259 candidates have filed nominations till the last day of nomination, reported Dainik Bhaskar.

The situation of transgender persons in India especially rural areas leave much to be desired as they are often bullied and ostracised from society. Having said that, India’s first transgender politician was also from Madhya Pradesh. In 1998, Shabnam Mausi Bano was elected an MLA from Sohagpur constituency in Madhya Pradesh.