Kamla Jaan (1954 – ), although illiterate, was elected mayor of
Katni, Madhya Pradesh, in 1999. She won 28 of 45 wards, finishing 1,897 votes ahead. She sank wells, fixed the drains and renovated the bus station, and dismissed the advisory council. In 2003, the High Court upheld that Kamla Jaan was not a "woman" and hence she was asked to step down from the post of mayor, reserved for female candidate.
NYTimes
Asha Devi (1952 – 2013) in 2000 ran for the post of mayor in
Gorakhpur, eastern Uttar Pradesh, a post reserved for a woman. The pradesh Election Commission ruled that her sex was to be decided by how she was enrolled in the voters’ list. She won over one lakh (1,09,849) votes. Every other candidate including the one from
Bharatiya Janata Party lost her deposit. During her tenure she concentrated on the construction of roads and drainage. In May 2003 her election was declared invalid on the grounds that the post was reserved for a female, and that Asha is not female. This was in response to a petition by from the Samajwadi Party candidate, who had had come second but received over 60,000 fewer votes.
Kamla Kinnar (1954 – ) was elected mayor of
Sagar, Madhya Pradesh in 2009. She ran independent candidate with a margin of over 43,000 votes defeating her nearest BJP rival Suman Ahirwar. Two years after the election, the Sagar district court declared Kamala Kinnar's election as "null and void" because the mayor's seat was reserved for a 'woman' belonging to scheduled caste category.
Madhu Kinnar (1979 – ) who previously worked as a singer/dancer on trains, was elected mayor of
Raigarh, Chhattisgarh in 2015 by 4357 votes on 4 January, beating the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate.
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Let us hope that unlike Kamla, Asha and Kamla, Madhu is allowed to complete her term of office.
After a psychiatrist confirmed what Kalki said about herself, she was accepted by her family as trans and was able to complete her education. She was able to get a prescription for female hormones by contacting Thai doctors online. She did a BA in English and a Master's in Journalism and Mass Communications. While at university she published a monthly magazine, Sahodari (Sister) for trans women. After graduation she worked for a multinational company while she saved up for surgery, which she was able to obtain in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.
After three months Revathi started wearing a sari, and went to Delhi where she found a guru with whom she would beg. Then she moved to Mumbai and became a sex worker. After her nirvanam (gender surgery), her family accepted that this what she was doing. In Bangalore she was stripped and beaten for two days in a police station, and then forced to clean the station floor. Her guru, Manjulam, was murdered by extortionists at the age of 58.
. Yoda Press 2006.
