Ganga Nayak, who has been part of DMK for over 2 decades, won in Ward 37 in the Vellore corporation on Tuesday.
In a massive victory for the LGBTQ+ community, Ganga Nayak, a transgender candidate of the DMK, won a seat on Tuesday in the Tamil Nadu urban local body elections 2022 from Vellore. Counting of votes for the 21 municipal corporation elections in Tamil Nadu is currently underway, and it appears to be a landslide victory for the ruling DMK. So far, Ganga is the only candidate from the transgender community in Tamil Nadu to have bagged a victory in this year's local body polls.
Also Read: Tamil Nadu urban local body election 2022 results live updates
The 49-year-old, who has served as a member of the DMK for over two decades, was nominated by the party earlier. On Tuesday, as results poured in, Ganga Nayak was declared the winning candidate in Ward No. 37 in the Vellore Municipal corporation. The DMK candidate won the corporation councillor post with a 15-vote margin. She received a total of 2,131 votes. Currently, Ganga serves as the secretary of the South India Transgender Association and is known for her social work in Vellore.
Born to daily wage workers in Vellore, Ganga Nayak has attained recognition for her social work and services towards the community. Her drama troupe, which includes 30 transgender persons, has also gained popularity over the years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ganga and her troupe, held several awareness campaigns across Vellore and other districts of Tamil Nadu.
Twitter exploded with wishes for Ganga Nayak, following her victory, with several suggesting that the win is an indication of the changing political landscape in the country.
Two notable victories today- Ganga Naik, transwoman wins in Vellore. This is a historic moment for LGBTQ community & TamilNadu as a whole.
Elsewhere, 21 yr old student Kausika won in Nagercoil .
Both are DMK candidates. Kudos to DMK for believing in them. pic.twitter.com/03saAjvx46
Transperson Ganga being congratulated on her election as DMK Councillor in Vellore Municipal Corporation. https://t.co/zoxRs4DafG pic.twitter.com/YUSH25vpsk
— D Suresh Kumar (@dsureshkumar)R. Ganga, a 49 year old has become the first transgender person to win in .
Fielded by DMK, she secured 2,129 votes for 37th ward of the Corporation.
So happy to see such a change. They deserve much more! pic.twitter.com/OB0SqPoQmF
Ganga, a Transgender candidate has won frm 37th ward Corporation ,said to be the 1st from tans community in the district
The candidate won with a 15-vote margin ; total of 2,131 votes pic.twitter.com/NxWsfwH6FX
49 Year old Ganga, becomes the first ‘Transgender’ to win in the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Body polls. She contested in a DMK ticket for 37th Ward of Vellore Corporation. | | | | pic.twitter.com/kDZeClr1dJ
Ganga Naik, becomes the first ‘Transgender’ to win in the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Body polls.
Congratulations
| | | pic.twitter.com/w4dzYZ0duE
Voting for the Tamil Nadu urban local body election 2022 was held on Saturday to pick representatives in over 12,500 wards across 21 corporations, 138 municipalities and 489 town panchayats. A total of 15 people from the transgender community across parties, including BJP and AIADMK, have contested in this year's polls, many of whom stood as independent candidates.
Jayadevi, AIADMK's transgender candidate, contested from Ward 112 in the Teynampet zone of the Chennai Corporation. She has been associated with the party for the last 15 years. Meanwhile, BJP's trans candidate Rajamma contested from Ward 76 of the Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Zone in the Chennai Corporation.
Also Read: Tamil Nadu Urban Local body election 2022: How to check results and voteshare in your ward?