In A Progressive Move, Maharashtra Names A Transgender As One Of Its 12 Election Ambassadors

In a progressive step, the state chief electoral officer has appointed a transgender person as an election ambassador in charge of creating awareness among voters and increasing the voting percentage. The chief electoral officer¡¯s office has appointed transgender activist Gauri Sawant (38) as one of the 12 ¡°state icons¡± ahead of the general elections.

Sawant said she is honoured to be appointed as the ¡°one and only¡± transgender election ambassador in the country.

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¡°I will generate awareness among sex workers and housewives about the importance of voting. Sex workers and their welfare do not feature on the agenda of any of the parties, so even they do not bother to vote. But this has to change,¡± Sawant told TOI.

She pointed out that several women are also ignorant about their voting rights.

¡°The voting day is (usually) a holiday and their husbands are at home, so they are busy cooking for them and do not go out to vote,¡± said Sawant.

¡°We will reach out to them and explain why it is important to vote and that many countries still do not give women the right to do so. If we cannot go to the border and fight, we should at least go to the election booth and vote,¡± she said.

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Born Ganesh Sawant, Gauri was raised in a conservative family in Pune. After several years of struggle, she founded her own NGO and also adopted a girl child in 2001. The child was left orphaned in 2001 after the demise of her mother, a sex worker who died of HIV. The baby¡¯s grandmother had decided to sell her to a dealer in Sonagachi in Kolkata, the country¡¯s largest red-light district. Sawant learnt of it and stepped in to save the child by adopting her.

So far, there are a total of 2,086 registered transgender voters in Maharashtra, markedly up from 918 in 2014. Not a single person was registered as a transgender in the state till 2012. The state¡¯s total voting percentage in 2014 was 60.3%, up from 50.7% during the 2009 elections.

Besides Sawant, other names on the list are nuclear physicist Anil Kakodkar, sporstwomen Smriti Mandhana, Virdhawal Khade, Rahi Sarnobat and Lalit Babar, and literary activist Madhu Mangesh Karnik. The film and television world is represented by Mrinal Kulkarni, Prashant Damle, Nishiganda Waad and Usha Jadhav. Another name that stands out is that of Nilesh Singit, a disability rights activist.