Kerala : Amidst uncertainty over woman-reserved seat, transwoman candidates nomination accepted
An uncertainty arose earlier when the DEO informed her that her nomination for a women-reserved seat might be rejected and that she would need to obtain a court order to proceed. In response, Amaya approached the Kerala High Court, which observed that the decision lay within the Returning Officer's discretion and that the authority could take a call on the matter.
Thiruvananthapuram: In a major relief for Amaya Prasad and for the Congress in Thiruvananthapuram, the election commission accepted the local body election nomination papers. UDF’s Amaya Prasad, a transwoman contesting in the upcoming Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat election, secured her place in the fray after the District Election Officer (DEO) accepted her nomination following scrutiny on Saturday.
Amaya Prasad will contest from Pothencode in a seat reserved for women.
An uncertainty arose earlier when the DEO informed her that her nomination for a women-reserved seat might be rejected and that she would need to obtain a court order to proceed. In response, Amaya approached the Kerala High Court, which observed that the decision lay within the Returning Officer’s discretion and that the authority could take a call on the matter.
After verifying the documents she submitted, officials accepted her candidature. A resident of Kalliyoor panchayat, Amaya is the State president of the Kerala Pradesh Transgender Congress (KPTC). She has been active in politics since her student years in the Kerala Students Union (KSU). A BBA graduate, she is also an actor, writer, entrepreneur and social activist. Advocates Gautham Krishna E J and Rinesh E V represented her in the case.
"Finally, everything is sorted now, and I’m glad that they accepted my nomination. I’m so happy at the moment and I thank everybody who stood by me throughout this time,” Amaya said.
Amaya has completed medical, psychological and legal transition and is officially recognized as female under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. She submitted that officials had informed her on November 19 that, as the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act and its rules did not explicitly include transgender women under women-reserved categories, her nomination was likely to be rejected.
1.08 lakh aspirants file nominations for local body polls
As many as 1.08 lakh candidates filed a total of 1.64 lakh nominations for the local body elections scheduled in December, the State Election Commission said on Friday, the last day to file the papers. At 57,227, women aspirants outnumber men.
Malappuram had the highest number of candidates and nominations — 13,595 and 19,959, respectively — while Wayanad had the lowest at 3,180 candidates and 5,227 nominations. The lone transgender candidate from Thiruvananthapuram submitted three sets of papers.