Just months ago she was scratching out a living singing and dancing on trains for a few rupees from commuters.But now Madhu Bai Kinnar is leading her community as India’s first transgender mayor – a dramatic election result that upends cultural mores in the traditionally conservative country.
Kinnar won the election in Raigarh in the central state of Chhattisgarh on Sunday, beating her rival from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by more than 4,500 votes.
Television pictures showed the 35-year-old draped in a saree and with a large red bindi on her forehead, folding her hands and greeting supporters who placed marigold garlands around her neck amid strobing camera flashes.
Kinnar, a member of the Dalit caste previously known as the ‘untouchables’, put herself forward for election when she was asked to represent her community.
