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Newly elected councillor A Priyadarshini is confident that she will end her ward’s perennial water woes.
The 21-year-old made headlines as the youngest councillor to be elected to the Chennai Corporation. She stood from ward 98 in Teynampet, one among the 50 wards reserved for women candidates. Priya won with a comfortable margin of 5,253 votes. Her party, CPI(M), is in alliance with the DMK, Congress, DMDK, IUML (Indian Union Muslim League), etc.
Even during her days at Stella Maris College where she did a BA in Sociology, Priya was active in student politics (outside of the college). She was a member of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI, the student wing of the CPI(M). She later joined the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPI(M).
When asked if she aspires for a career in politics, Priya says that she would love to enter politics, but that it was “up to the party”. “The party told me to stand for elections and I did. Now if the party wants me to continue in politics, I will,” she says.
More young women candidates have been elected as ward councillors this year. In ward 136 in Kodambakkam, 22-year-old Nilavarasi charted history by being elected to the corporation. She is an MBA aspirant and wants to balance her duties as councillor with her studies.
She says that safe drinking water and good roads are among the basic amenities lacking in her ward.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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