Priya Rajan – Chennai’s first Dalit woman mayor | Fusion - WeRIndia

Recently, Priya Rajan was sworn in as the mayor of Chennai. She became the city’s first Dalit woman mayor since the Greater Chennai Corporation was formed 334 years ago.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) secured a thumping win in urban local body elections and bagged all the 21 municipal corporations.

The DMK nominated Priya for the post of mayor in the Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation.

Priya is the youngest and first-ever Dalit woman mayor of Chennai. She is the third woman mayor for Chennai after Tara Cherian and Kamakshi Jayaraman.

Priya, who contested an election for the first time, was elected as councillor from ward No 74.

Priya Rajan was born in Chennai. She has a political background. Her father, R Rajan, is a DMK functionary. He has been with the party since 1987. She is the granddaughter of former DMK MLA Chengai Sivam.

Priya is a commerce postgraduate. She joined the party when she was 18 years old.

Ahead of the urban body elections, the Chennai state government passed a resolution to reserve a post for scheduled caste (SC) women. As per the resolution, Priya was nominated for the mayor election.

Late former chief minister J Jayalalithaa brought in 50% reservations for women in local bodies. As per this, 50% of contestants were women in these elections. However, in several instances, men were involved with the decisions of their women like wives and daughters and took decisions on their behalf. It is a major challenge for Priya. She also has to find solutions for many problems, including the waterlogging issue in the city.

In addition to Priya, many youngsters will hold the posts of mayors and deputy mayors. Among them, 20 councillors are undergraduates and 11 are postgraduates.

The DMK reserved mayor posts for the SC community in other areas also. Besides, it reserved these posts for women. Overall, 11 women will be mayors, and 5 women will hold deputy mayors.

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