Jan Suraj Party candidate from Bhore assembly seat of Gopalganj district of Bihar and transgender social worker Preeti said that she has come into politics on the call of the public and expressed confidence that the public will make her victorious.
This election of Preeti can prove to be historic, because the only transgender MLA in the country was Shabnam Bano, who represented Sohagpur assembly constituency of Madhya Pradesh from 1998 to 2003.
In the last three assembly elections, candidates from three different parties won from Bhore seat. Indradev Manjhi of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won in 2010, Anil Kumar of Congress in 2015 and Sunil Kumar of Janata Dal (United) won in 2020. Kumar is the education minister in the current government.
Preeti told ‘PTI Bhasha’, “I have been associated with social work in this area for the last two decades and now I have come into politics on the call of the public.” Referring to her social work, she said, “Every year I get the daughters of poor families married. I also help the needy in times of disaster or crisis.”
Although the number of transgender voters in the area is very less, Preeti claims that due to her social work, she is getting support from every section of the society. She told that earlier she was preparing to contest the elections as an independent, but she saw that her goals and ideas match the ideology of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party, so she decided to join this party. She said, “I am grateful to Prashant ji who expressed confidence in me and entrusted me with this responsibility.”
Preeti believes that her contesting from Bhore will “give a new boost to the morale of the transgender community.” He said, “The roads in the area are in bad shape, the health and education systems are in a state of disrepair. The solutions to these problems are linked to the key promises of the Jan Suraj Party – education, health, employment and migration control.”
She said, “If the public gives me an opportunity, I will establish a college in the area. I will provide ambulance service in every panchayat so that poor people can get timely treatment. Along with this, I will construct public toilets for women so that they do not face inconvenience.”
On the prospects of Jan Suraj, he said, “No big change happens all at once, but in a very short period of time, Jan Suraj has become a topic of discussion.” She said, “Just as I got the opportunity to enter politics, I will inspire other people from the transgender community to enter politics. Political representation is a powerful medium for socio-economic upliftment.”
Mixed reactions are being seen among the public regarding Preeti’s candidature.
Varun Rai, a Patna resident and journalist in Bhore, said, “Preeti contesting the elections will not have a huge impact. Even if there is some impact, it will be in favor of JD(U) (Janata Dal-United), because it will divide the votes against the Left (Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation), which had lost by only 462 votes in 2020.” Rai said Bhore has traditionally been a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and JD(U).
Atul Upadhyay, a member of the Primary Agricultural Credit Committee (PACS) of the area, has a completely different opinion.
He said, “Preeti has done a lot of work for the people of Bhore in the last three-four years. She helps poor girls in marriage and provides financial assistance in times of fire or any other disaster.” “Current MLA Sunil Kumar lives in Patna and rarely visits the area,” he said. Upadhyay admitted that Sunil Kumar has done some work, but “Preeti has been closer to the public.”