Twenty-five-year-old Aswathi Rajappan has become the first intersex person to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Kerala.
Better known as Chinju, Rajappan, who is a resident of Angamaly and a Dalit, is contesting from Ernakulam as an independent candidate, The News Minute reported.
“I am a person who has been through multiple oppressions in life. My candidature for the Lok Sabha polls is my fight to acquire equal representation for all marginalised sections of society.”Aswathi Rajappan to The News Minute
Rajappan will be contesting against NDA’s Alphons Kannanthanam, Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, former Rajya Sabha MP P Rajeev from LDF and UDF’s MLA Hibi Eden. He filed his nomination papers to contest on Thursday, 4 April.
Rajappan wants to implement the rights of LGBTQ community through positive and constructive activism, The New Indian Express reported.
“We have lost belief in all the political parties in the country. However progressive their proclamations are, nobody has done justice to the community,” Rajappan told The News Minute.
According to him, Ernakulam has a good number of queer members and people who support the community.
Rajappan did graduation in BSc Electronics from IHRD college Thodupuzha and is an MSc drop-out.
“Many like me are struggling for a platform to speak up and make the world realise that we are also a part of society. Unfortunately, there are but few who are mature enough to listen. It is my education alone, which has empowered me to speak up confidently,” Rajappan told The New Indian Express.
(With inputs from The News Minute and The New Indian Express)
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